


Shark Teeth

by WizardsGirl



Series: My Many Naruto OC's [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Also a lot of Shark references, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Parenting, Blaze attitude about cannibalism and murder and death, But then again the timeline was overly vague to begin with, Cannibalism, Death, Fake Science?, Humans are not food (except sometimes they are), Kisame is younger by a good decade in this, Mind Altering Jutsu, Multi, Murder, Naruto is a Good Friend, No way Samehada is the ONLY sentient sword so I fixed it, Other Additional Tages to Be Added, Pan-romantic Asexual Main Character, Psychopathology & Sociopathy, Rape, Rascism, Sentient Swords, Sexism, Shark facts, So basically everything to do with realistic Ninjas, Stereotypes, Swords, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Torture, dark themes, oc reincarnation, world building
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-28
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-12-20 21:19:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 26,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11929485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WizardsGirl/pseuds/WizardsGirl
Summary: Once upon a time, she had been a normal, albeit cold girl.Then she'd died, and now she was a normal, cold girl... Who happened to like her meat raw, and human.Oh, and she looked like a shark. There was that.





	1. 0

**Author's Note:**

> I started this fic because I used the Face Morph app to morph Shizune and Kisame's faces and the result was... Ugh (Shudders). Then I drew the face (It's on my DA, Username WizardsGirl) and created Sameha. So, I hope you enjoy what I have so far!

**Shark Teeth**

  


**.0.**

  


Once upon a time in a place that I once lived, I was Samantha Thomas. I was an average, slightly chubby girl with brown hair and green-hazel eyes, I wore glasses, I went to school. I married my high-school sweetheart, who I promptly divorced after he broke my jaw during an argument over the bills and our apartments rent. I had a couple of college credits towards English and Political Science, I was a little antisocial and introverted and apparently "robotic", so I only had a very small handful of friends.

I don't remember how I died, just that there was a massive storm and the wind was sending tree branches flying every which way.

What I do know, however, is that when I woke up, I wasn't in the Afterlife (Whatever that was). After a long time of listening to the muffled sounds outside this dark, warm place, I realized that I was actually _inside someone_. Most likely a woman, considering the likelihood of Male Pregnancy was about the same as pigs flying without genetic modification or outside help.

So, I was being reborn. Out of all the various religions and outcomes that could have happened, the fact that Reincarnation hadn't even made it onto my list of "What Happens After Death" was mildly surprising. It was also mildly infuriating, to be able to hear people talking, feel movement, and _not be able to reciprocate or respond_.

I had plenty of time to come to terms with my Rebirth, at least. From what I could tell, I became Aware of my existence at about four months in the Womb of my new mother. As time passed, the sounds outside the Womb grew louder and more clear, and names and discussions could be vaguely translated through the membrane walls o my home.

My mother's name was Sameko, she was some sort of "Kunoichi" for someplace called "Kiri". There were several mentions of my "Father" (Although it sounded as if he had died just before I gained Awareness), Daisame, and my new "Niisan" or older brother, named Kisame, who was about thirteen apparently and something called a "Genin".

Vaguely, I managed to translate my new family's names as I listened, and my, were they obsessed with Sharks. Mother was "Shark Child", Brother was "Demon Shark", Father was "Great Shark". What would my name be, I wondered.

As I paid attention, the conversations between my mother and brother grew more and more intense, not _angry_ but... Stressed, I suppose. Considering that my Mother was Pregnant and had, before that, been a very active "Kunoichi", which seemed to be some sort of paid martial artist/assassin, it was understandable.

Still, the stress and tension wasn't helping my living condition, and, when the walls of the Womb began to contract and ripple, I could tell that it was early. Not dangerously so, perhaps, but still premature, and difficult for my Mother.

I was pulled from the Womb at three-thirty in the afternoon on September sixteenth, a baby girl (thankfully), to an exhausted looking shark-like woman with an equally shark-like teenage boy peering down at me with morbid fascination and disgust.

...I could now understand the obsession with that animal.

"Sameha," my mother muttered exhaustedly, slumping back with a sigh and a half-smirk. "Hoshigaki Sameha. About damn time you came out." I just continued to let my new body whine, eyes peering blearily around as a non-shark-like woman took me away to be cleaned.

Sameha, huh. "Shark Teeth".

...I could deal with that.

  


**/\/\/\/\/\**

  


Kirigakure no Sato. The Village Hidden in the Mist. The Shinobi, or _Ninja_ , Village of Water Country, or Hi no Mizu. Known to Outsiders as Chigiri no Sato, _The Bloody Mist_ thanks to its vicious, blood-stained caste system. Currently lead by the tyrant Yondaime Mizukage, Yagura.

In the three years I have lived as Hoshigaki Sameha, I have already witnessed murder and torture on the streets of the Bloody Mist. The Civil War between the Bloodline, or Kekkei Genkai, Users (those with natural, genetic abilities only they could use), and those Without was strong and violent.

The only thing protecting the Hoshigaki Clan was the fact that my Brother, Kisame, who had just turned sixteen, has gained a truly ruthless reputation, and his continued loyalty and devotion to Kiri is approved by the Mizukage himself. Just recently he'd begun working under Suikazan Fuguki of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. He wielded one of the two blades our Grandfather, Akasame, created for Kiri, Samehada, _Shark Skin_ , a sentient blade that devoured others Chakra and was able to choose it's wielder.

The second Blade had belonged to our Father, and I was staring at it silently now as it rested on the shrine behind our small home.

Koufukude no Ken, _The Famished Sword_ , was a Samurai-favored style of wakizashi. The blade was made of black metal that gleamed blue, the handle wrapped in pale blue bandages, and, at the end, a shark's head, mouth currently closed, sat, tiny pearls resting on the silver sharks 'eyes'. It, like its brother Samehada, was a Chakra Eating Blade, but it was much, _much_ more dangerous.

Samehada grew more powerful from devouring the Chakra of those it was wielded against, growing larger and more deadly with every 'bite'.

Koufukude grew more powerful on it's  _wielder's_ Chakra, constantly eating away at it every time it was pulled from its sheath. The likelihood of death from Chakra Exhaustion was _fact_ , as, like it's brother, it was sentient and chose it's wielder.

My father Daisame was only the second person in fifty years, besides it's creator, his own father, to be able to wield the blade. Seventeen other people have tried. All have died.

One would wonder _why_ so many people attempted to wield Koufukude with such a deadly history, but there was a catch to it's unending feeding. Every time the blade ate your Chakra and you _lived_ , your Chakra capacity was doubled.

 _Every. Time_.

Now, I'd already figured that Chakra Control would be the best friend of the Wielder, but, then I found out what _also_ happened to your devoured Chakra.

The one who held a willing Koufukude in battle could _use_ all the Chakra stored in the Blade. _All the Chakra_.

Koufukude currently held within it the combined power of _nineteen shinobi_ , three of which (Grandfather, Father, and one Hopeful) had _S-Rank Level Status_ , the highest level a Shinobi could reach outside of Kage.

The hope of _owning_ what amounted to a demon, or a _Biju_ as they were called here (A massive, inhuman creature of living Chakra), was an extremely tempting target. Thankfully, Koufukude was picky, more so than Samehada, which had been wielded successfully by eight Swordsmen thus far.

Another catch was that the Blade only took massive amounts of Chakra a few times, if it liked you. After that, you could safely handle the Blade without risk of Chakra Exhaustion, because it would only "nibble" at your Chakra, eating what amounted to a fifth of what you had if you used it for long periods. Mother said that, once, during the Second Shinobi War, my Father was able to hold and use the Blade for over five hours in several different battles, and the Blade never ate more than it should. Of course, it then waited until he was fully recovered to eat over two thirds of his Chakra to recover what he'd used in that day, but Mother said he thought it was worth the cost.

Staring at the blade as it rested above a plain plaque that held my father's name, I stood on my tiptoes, and reached forward. My chubby, pale blue fingers brushed the handle, and Koufukude _pulsed_ , the shark head's pearl-eyes turning black as it's mouth opened with a _hiss_. It _pulled_ at me, making the world spin as I fell backwards, fingertips pulled away as I found myself suddenly exhausted and dizzy. The Blade hissed again, displeased, and, vaguely, I noticed it's now black eyes _pulsing_ before they faded to pearl and it's mouth closed with a snap of metal teeth.

"Sameha!" Mother shouted, sounding both furious and terrified, but her voice was distant, and, suddenly, I was being scooped up and the world was a blur.

I passed out.

When I woke again, it was to the bleary vision of the white hospital ceiling and a pulsing headache.

"You stupid, foolish little Guppy," Kisame hissed from beside me, and, suddenly, his sharp face was glaring down at me, silver eyes gleaming and pupil's tiny pinpricks, denoting his anger. All I could do was blink slowly, painfully, as he sneered, baring his natural, shark-like teeth (A genetic trait of the Hoshigaki Clan that Kiri-nin had been mimicking since the Village's Founding, as a Hoshigaki had been the one to make the waters surrounding the islands relatively safe (By ninja standards). It was in Honor of the Clan. Something a lot of people forgot about in recent years, or never knew to begin with, such is the way of unthinking prejudice.).

"Do you have any idea what happened?" My brother hissed. "You've been in a coma for _three days_ , Guppy! You nearly _died_ , because you decided to try and touch a _Chakra Eating Blade_! If you wanted to die so badly, I would have tossed you into a Frenzy _myself_ and saved us _all_ the trouble!" Wincing at both his volume and the image of a group of sharks tearing into me, I could only close my eyes and sigh lowly.

"Sorry, Niisan," I muttered hoarsely; Kisame scoffed but stopped his looming.

"Mother is getting you a tutor," he told me stiffly, the word _tutor_ coming out like an ominous threat. "Hopefully it'll keep you out of the whirlpools and in the shallow end of things until you can be trusted to swim alone, Guppy." Grumbling under my breath tiredly, I didn't open my eyes.

I drifted back into sleep after a few moments, my Brother remaining by my side the whole time.

  


**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

  


It took a week for my Chakra to return and, indeed, it _had_ doubled.

Unfortunately, this fact had the side-affect of nearly killing me as well, my three-year-old body unable to handle the sudden strain on it.

It took almost a month for me to recover fully, and, by then, my Mother and Brother had all but lectured me back into a hospital bed.

Now that I was safely recovered, however, I was finally able to meet my Tutor.

"The Hoshigaki Clan has a long and vicious history with our Summons, the Sharks," Mother told me as we knelt in the sand of the nearest beach, both dressed in black kimono's with dark blue obi's. The sea was to my left as I faced my mother, the gills beneath her silver eyes and alongside her neck lifting and shifting with every breath as the tide began to rise, gently soaking into our clothes.

Neither of us moved.

"Some, like your brother and father, have no talent at the Summoning. The Sharks are Predators, and strong, but they are also mercurial, like the sea itself, shifting and moving. Some are a still as a calm, windless day, like the Nurse Sharks who teach and protect. Other's are as sudden and wrathful as a tsunami, like the Bull Sharks, quick to rage and just as quick to disappear, leaving only damage and death in their wakes. And some are constant, like the tide, coming and going wherever they please whenever they please, as unstoppable as the ocean itself, like the Great White Sharks." I nodded slowly, listening intently.

"Because of the mercurial nature of our Summons, some Hoshigaki, like your brother and father, never succeed in Summoning anything higher than what we call Drone Sharks. These are simply larger, more aggressive Sharks who are unable to speak and only have a slightly higher intelligence than their non-Summon brethren. Daisame could Summon these and, on rare occasions, a Dogfish Messenger Shark, and even then they demanded a price for their services or else dispelled themselves. Kisame doesn't have the patience, inclination, nor determination to make the attempt like your father did, and so will never meet one of the Greater Sharks." Here, my Mother's face soured briefly, her gills flaring in a huff, before settling. Kisame's refusal to learn any of the "Lesser" Clan techniques beyond what he could use in his training with his Teacher was a sore note between the two of them.

"Now, my mother, your Grandmother, Samehana, could Summon the Nurse Sharks, no matter their age or strength, which was a very impressive feat, as the highest, strongest level of Nurse Shark was responsible for the training and care of the entire Frenzy. She was answerable only to the Shark King, Sukouru-Sama, the strongest of the Shark's, a massive Great White who has lived for over two hundred years." _That's impossible_ , I automatically thought, blinking. _The average lifespan of a Great White is only seventy years... But, then again_ , I thought suddenly, _Chakra has been known to extend the life of the average human being and animal, so, a Shark that could manipulate and use Chakra could, in theory, live longer..._

"Are you done analyzing your facts, Sameha?" Mother asked mildly, and I twitched, snapping my focus back to her, but I didn't apologize. Hoshigaki, like Sharks, were unrepentant, we followed our own paths. Mother simply accepted my returned attention, and moved on.

"I am able to Summon any Shark of what amounts to High Genin or lower, with one Personal Contract with a higher level Shark, my own Tutor and first Summons, Hekima. She is who I am going to Summon today, and she is the one who shall teach _you_ to Summon, as she taught me, and as she taught your Brother. You are to treat her with the respect she deserves, as all Sharks deserve, do you understand, Sameha?" She demanded; immediately, I nodded. Predators must be respected, for without them, Prey will rule. A world Ruled by Prey was a cowardly, pathetic World.

Shinobi were Predators, and every Predator respected one another to a degree.

"Watch," Mother ordered, and lifted her hands, using one of her fangs to cut her left thumb calmly. Swiftly, but not so much that I couldn't see them, her fingers flew through the correct hand-signs. Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram, just as she'd been teaching me while I was bed bound.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Hekima," Mother called calmly, placing her palms against the sand. There was a flare of Chakra, a flash of light, and then, appearing beneath her, a large Shark appeared. It's, no, _her_ , skin was a soft, greenish-brown, dotted with tiny, brown speckles all along it. She was, maybe, twelve feet long, and, perched on the tip of her snout was a tiny pair of purple glasses with a sea-shell as the nose-ridge. Pale gray eyes blinked sedately, almost sleepily, as the Nurse Shark peered around.

"Ah, Sameko-chan!" She greeted, voice a soft, low tone, almost like the sound that happened when you blew on an empty jar. "Has your newest Pup grown old enough to teach already?"

"Hai, Hekima-chan," Mother agreed; the Nurse Shark hummed lowly, turning her milky eyes on me, pupils dilating for a moment before shrinking to near-invisibility again.

"My, my, that _is_ an awful lot of Chakra for such a small Pup," she mused, and I blinked, before realizing what must have happened. Mother nodded at me, gently stroking a hand over Hekima's head as she slid off of her Summon's back and knelt beside her.

"Hekima-chan is able to see and sense Chakra, much like her non-Summon's brethren can sense the electromagnetic impulses of their Prey," she told me, and I nodded, before refocusing on the half-dozing shark. Politely, I bowed forward, forehead nearly touching the water that had once more flowed up from the sea to us.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Hekima-Sensei," I told her formally. "I am Hoshigaki Sameha. Please take care of me." Hekima hummed lowly, and moved forward, her body unhindered by the land as her fins easily manipulated the wet sand around her, moisture from the tide briefly reforming into an almost-pool surrounding her body. I could, only vaguely, sense the use of Chakra, but it wasn't a technique like a Jutsu, more of a Chakra Control Exercise, like when Kisame walked on the ceiling or on the water.

"We shall see how you do, and then decide," Hekima finally decided as she pressed her snout up close to my face, her little glasses glinting in the sun. "Are you able to access your Chakra consciously yet, Pup?" She asked; I shook my head honestly, and she hummed again. "First, we will work on that. Afterwards, you will attempt to Summon one of our Frenzy. After that, we shall see." Settling in, I locked my attention on Hekima, barely nodding as my Mother rose and left us to the lessons, moving back towards our home to start on lunch.

"The first thing you need to do is this..."

  


**/\/\/\/\/\/\**

  


"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" I called as I finished the hand-seals, palms bloody as I slammed them into the ground, focusing on my Chakra. I'd been training with Hekima-Sensei for two weeks on manipulating my Chakra, and today was my second attempt at the Jutsu (The first attempt had gotten me a barely-hatched Dogfish Drone who I had immediately dismissed before it could die. Hekima-Sensei had decided more Control Exercises were needed, and so I learned to Dance on the Waves, an Exercise that involved a mix of skating and surfing on waves, which had been provided by Hekima-Sensei through her own Justus, Suiton: Kiri Souzou (Water Release: Wave Creator). It had been both fun and exhausting).

Now, however, I was trying again.

Pressing as much of my, now much easier to control, Chakra into the Technique, I felt it connect, before there was a bright flash of light and I was suddenly on top of a Shark. It was frozen still, obviously as surprised as I was that it was there, and I took the chance to quickly examine it as I scrambled off to stand next to my Teacher.

It was about four feet long and pale gray, with black markings along the tips of its fins, most prominently on it's dorsal fin, and along the edge of it's tail-fin. It had what looked like a pair of diver's goggles around it's neck and, as I watched, a wide grin stretched it's mouth, showing off it's sharp, interlocking (for the most part) teeth.

"Whoa-ho-ho, hey there, Hekima-Obaasan!" The Shark greeted cheerfully, voice male and only semi-mocking in tone. "You gotta live one here! Barely out of her Egg and she can already Summon one of my kind? This one's a keeper!" Grinning still, the Shark reached up with one fin and saluted me cheerfully. "Yo there, Pup! The name's Makoto of the Blacktip Sharks! I'm the Lead Scout of the 39th Reef Patrol!" I blinked once, and bowed politely.

"I am Hoshigaki Sameha, and it's a pleasure to meet you, Makoto-san," I told him simply, and blinked as the Blacktip managed to, somehow, _blow a raspberry_ at me.

"Oh, fooey on that prim and proper shit, Pup! You won't need that anytime soon, you're freshly hatched! Come on!" He shouted, somehow managing to hop in place, grinning brightly. "The world is your oyster and all that! Let's go!" He lunged forward just as Hekima-Sensei made a sharp, disapproving sound, and I barely had time to yelp as his teeth latched firmly onto my shirt, tossing me high into the air. With a laugh, the Blacktip lunged up after me, catapulting into the air and rotating his body three times, turning to dive straight back down just as I collided with his back, my hands instinctively latching on to the muscles of his neck, his rough skin scrapping dryly against my own with a faint scraping sound. With a laugh, he dove at the ground only, before we could hit, there was a flash of light, and I got to experience the odd, almost-giddy feeling of Reverse Summoning, just as we hit water.

The Ocean Makoto dove into was far warmer than the Sea around Kiri, filled with bright corals and fish. Instinctively, I flared the gills on my cheeks, neck, and shoulders, my body naturally filtering the water into usable oxygen without any trouble. Makoto laughed again and darted forward, grinning, as he carried me into a sharp current that sent us flying through the water.

Within moments, dark shapes appeared, and, suddenly, we were surrounded by dozens of Blacktips, several of them calling greetings and taunts to one another, but every single one following behind my Summons, a clear order and hierarchy in place. Peering around in wonder as my Summons sped onward, I just... _breathed_.

The Ocean was _beautiful_. Whatever water we were in was clear and warm and filled with _brightness_ and _life_. I breathed out slowly as we swam, the temperature shifting after several minutes, as we began to go deeper, bright colors dimming and new Sharks appearing. The entire Frenzy (No doubt the entirety of the 39th Reef Patrol) shied away as one, when a massive Great Hammerhead took a sharp turn around the edge of a coral, snapping its teeth at a trailing member with a sneer as it used some sort of Doton Technique to coax the Coral into sharper, larger shapes.

"That was old man Michi," Makoto called easily, making an abortive movement as he tried not to look back at the Great Hammerhead. "He's in charge of making sure the Reef's don't deteriorate too fast. Sometimes the storms we get toss everything willy-nilly and it is a _total_ pain to find all the right pieces for the correct Reefs. Once, we had this Squall, it was _awesome_ , but it totally trashed the Reefs from Sector 12 to Sector 32, and all those Patrols kept getting into fights because 'so-and-so took one of _our_ Corals!' and it was _ridiculous_ ," he told me, before blinking. "Oh, yeah, you're still a Pup, so you probably don't know, but, see, these Reef's are special, because they're all created by Sharks, see?" I furrowed my brows and frowned.

"I thought coral was made up of polyps, some of which secrete calcium to create the skeletons known as Reefs..." Makoto almost paused and turned his head to blink at me slowly, his pupil expanding and shrinking rapidly with sudden, keen interest.

"...You're an odd little Pup, aren't you," he mused finally, turning his head forward again, and I was mildly wary of his transformation from playful 'teen' to calm leader. "While you're correct that, outside the Summon World, natural coral's and reefs are created by microscopic invertebrates called polyps, here, _we_ create them. It's a special technique called Sangoton: Kaiku." I blinked, and mentally translated. _Coral Release: Growth, huh_ , I mused. "Sharks only learn the Technique once they've survived their first Feeding Frenzy, which, despite it's name, is more like our version of your Chunin Exams, only those who fail get eaten, and every time that happens, the Frenzy gets more vicious. It lasts one week every two years, and only those who haven't reached fifteen can go through it."

"That make's sense, I guess," I admitted, thinking it through. "Sort of like how, in Kiri, to graduate from the Academy to become a Genin, the lower and second-class citizens had to kill their classmates, and only the strongest got to move on to become Ninja."

"Exactly!" Makoto agreed, grinning once more as his good mood seemingly reappeared out of nowhere. "Man, you human's might just be okay if that's how you decide who your Shinobi are!" I grimaced and shook my head.

"Actually, we had to demolish that tradition the year I was born," I told him honestly. "Apparently, a boy who wasn't even a student at the Academy snuck in during the Exam, and killed _everyone_ , including a couple of the Chunin teachers..."

"Whoa-ho-ho, _really_ now?" Makoto asked hungrily, and I noticed his pupils had once more dilated with keenly focused interest. "I'll have to keep the eye out for this one, then. Do you know his name?" I blinked slowly, then shrugged.

"Momochi Zabuza," I replied; the Blacktip chuckled and said nothing more as we continued to swim onward.

Soon, more Sharks joined the group, the 39th Patrol clustering together tightly with each new, larger Shark and small Frenzy. All the while, Makoto started naming them off for me, avoiding eye contact with them and instinctively shying away when one of the larger, fiercer Sharks swam too close to his Patrol.

"That's Isamu, of the Tiger Shark's 23rd Squad, he's sort of like our version of Samurai, all about honor 'til death."

"That's Shinju, she's a Copper Shark. She's gorgeous, I know, I know, but _man_ she knows her way around Katon Jutsu and let me tell you, boiled Shark smells _disgusting_!"

"Uh-oh, who invited Old Lady Tatsu out of the Depths?! Ugh, Pup, stay away from that one. She may look like a sweet little Frilled Shark, but she isn't named _dragon_ because she's _nice_!"

"Oh, hey, look at that, the Yin and Yang siblings are out and about! They're Leopard Sharks but they can only use Yin and Yang Chakra, and not both together. Whoever named them had a weird sense of humor, though, because their names are the opposite of which Chakra they can use."

On and on it went, dozens of names, little facts, species, genus, habits. All sorts of information that I tried to remember but, to be honest, I don't know how well I've done. The water was colder, now, murky with little clarity, and on we swam, the massive group of so many different Sharks heading forward with an almost single-minded determination, a heavy, almost physical silence settling over us all.

"Makoto?" I called quietly after a few moments struggling: the Blacktip hummed lowly. "Where are we going?" He chuckled quietly, and glanced back, pupils once more dilated, and his smile more hunger than amusement.

"The King has Called for the newest Summoner to be brought to him, Pup, and we shall deliver, hmm?" Turning his snout forward again, Makoto swam faster, and the whole group crested a ridge.

There, several dozen feet below us, was a massive, dark cave opening, surrounded in jagged rocks that looked like teeth as the whole thing looked like a stone shark's head. As we swam into it, I felt a thrill of fear that I shoved away as best as I could, tightening my fingers instinctively against Makoto's neck as I tried not to show weakness.

I was surrounded by Predators. I would _not_ be Prey.

Inside the Cave, torches with brightly colored and glowing anemone's acting like living fire lined the stone walls and provided light. Bull Sharks wearing metal armor patrolled menacingly, eyes half-covered by their pupils, a constant state of keen awareness and danger as they slowly swam. Makoto lead the many Sharks behind us down, deeper into the cavern, until it abruptly opened wide into a massive chamber that was brightly lit by golden Anemone, and, high above, I could make out faintly glowing jellyfish as they slowly drifted around the ceiling.

Forward, directly across from where we entered, was a throne-like cushion of coral and seaweed, all of it somehow purple in tone and, resting on it, tail slowly swaying back and forth as it's massive body rocked in place, was a heavily scarred Great White Shark. It was well over thirty feet long, closer to _forty_ , which should _not_ have been possible, as I knew for a fact that the largest Great White Shark had been recorded at twenty-three feet, and yet, here this one was. It was draped in a dark purple yakuta and, on its scarred head, sat what looked almost like a Kage-hat, with the kanji for Shark printed in white. Scars covered almost every inch of it, and it's left eye was obviously blind, and there was a chunk missing out of its right fin. Staring at it, wide-eyed, as Makoto swam forward rather demurely as the Frenzy behind us began circling the cavern, I realized who, exactly, this Shark was.

This was Sukouru-Sama, the King of Sharks, and I was being brought before him with nothing more than the clothes on my back.

As soon as Makoto got to the area of flat, clean floor before Sukouru-Sama, he immediately tilted sideways, making me slide off his back, and floated up and a little ways away from me, bowing deeply to his King.

"Sukouru-Sama, I, Makoto of the Blacktips, Lead Scout of the 39th Reef Patrol, have brought you our newest Summoner." I took that as my que and bowed deeply to the intimidatingly large Great White, his cold eyes locked on me.

"Greetings, Sukouru-Sama, King of the Sharks," I greeted respectfully. "I am Hoshigaki Sameha. It is an honor to meet you." Sukouru-Sama said nothing for a moment, staring down at me from beneath his Kage-hat, expressionless and cold, and I did not rise from my bow. After several long moments, he finally let out a low hum, and blinked, glancing briefly at Makoto.

"Leave us," he ordered, voice authoritative and cold, sounding a lot like Vin Deisel from my previous life, but only when he was playing Riddick... Which was an honestly fantastic thought, that the King of the Shark Summon's was Riddick. Terrifying, but fantastic

Blinking once, I swiftly refocused, as Makoto bobbed in place and swiftly abandoned me to my fate, disappearing into his Patrol Frenzy and hiding in the large crowd. Slowly, I looked up from my bow, and met the eyes of the King as he studied me.

"...Hoshigaki Sameha," he stated slowly, staring. "You are the newest Summoner of the Great Sharks of the Summoning Realm. You are also the youngest Summoner to ever grace these waters. The Great Sharks are a noble Species, young Summoner. We are proud, and cruel. We are not simple dogs, obeying our Summoners orders when called." His eyes narrowed at me sharply, lips pulling away from his gums to bear the entirety of his fang-filled maw. "We are more likely to devour _you_ than your enemies. We are _Predators_ , killers and assassins, murderous Creatures that haunted the very _dreams_ of your Ancestors for _centuries_. Do _not_ take us lightly, Pup." I nodded solemnly, never looking away from him.

"Hai, Sukouru-Sama," I agreed immediately, because what he said was true.

"The ability to Summon one of the Great Shark's is not as simple as signing a Contract," Sukouru-Sama continued coldly. "We are not like other Summons. There needs to be a _resolve_ within out Summoners, to do what has to be done, to Bloody the Waters and stir the Frenzy within. Some of your kind before took this to mean that they must be as bloodthirsty as We are in order to Summon us, but that isn't true. Being willing to kill, embracing the Hunt, those are important to some of Us, yes, but, above all else, we require _intelligence_." Those eyes, one blind but still glaring, were intent on me, an expanse of black slowly filling those whites until I could see my own reflection, my silver eyes almost gleaming out of the cold, black mirror of his eye. Sukouru-Sama lifted from his throne and began to slowly, ominously, circle me, and I turned with him, keeping my eyes focused on his firmly.

"Cold, calculated, logical, unyielding," he murmured lowly. "Some Summoners manage to muddle their way through the shallows, able to call upon one of the Species alone, or only those of certain levels. Some manage to build a reputation within a Frenzy, and are able to gain a personal Contract with a willing partner. None have ever been able to call upon _The_ Frenzy in it's entirety, not since the Mother of your Line was first brought before the Shark King of long ago." He continued to circle, and I continued to follow, floating a little off the ground as the current began to slowly rise.

"None of your kind had Her _Resolve_. None were able to look into their own Heart and Mind and acknowledge the Monster within. _None_ of them had what it takes to be a _True_ Summoner of the Great Sharks." Suddenly, his eye was all but in my face, my reflection distorting in its curved mirror.

" _Do you?_ " He whispered, and his eye seemed to expand as it swallowed me alive...

_I found myself standing within my home, the walls tinged bluish-purple and pulsing strangely. My steps echoed oddly as I stepped down a yawning hallway, onto to slowly come to a stop. Before me were two doorways I'd never seen before, one on either side of me. One was a dark brown, and bore Koufukude's name, and I knew that way lead to the Sword, the Blade of my Father that had tasted my Chakra and nearly killed me._

_The other door was dark blue, and had a picture of my Brother, smirking and smug, and, somehow, I knew that it would lead to the same path he was on, the Path that would lead to powerful allies and leaders._

_Koufukude, the Challenge that could Kill. It was the Challenge, the Goal, the aching hunger for **more** that twisted in my gut and made me question those around me despite all lessons and warnings to stop._

_Kisame, the Brother that I could Follow. The Honor and Safety of what I knew, the power of Foreknowledge. That confidence that told me when I jumped, I would know **exactly** what I was going to land on._

_I stared at the doors silently, midlly confused about why these were the seemingly heavy choices that would decide my Fate. Taking a step back from them both, I closed my eyes and focused._

_I loved my Brother. He was a strong, loyal Shinobi, a fine example of the Hoshigaki Clan, our Protector from the Mobs of Kekkei Genkai hater's that lived within Kiri. He was fierce and brave and intelligent, ridiculously strong, if impatient and actually a little naive. I knew he would teach me, train me, and I knew I would be a strong Kunoichi if I followed in his footsteps, but..._

_Koufukude. A dangerous, intelligent weopon that many others had all tried and failed and died trying to concur. The Ultimate Challenge. It sang like a sirens call, the hunger in the metal ringing through my mind. I remembered the bite of it, the gleam as it's peral-eyes turned black, its hungry hiss as it threatened to swallow me whole. I knew the risk, the odds. That way lead to the highest possibility of death, with victory a distant speck of dust._

_Staring at the doors, I suddenly knew what this was. Sukouru-Sama had given me the clue himself. **Resolve**. Where did I wish to go, what path would I choose?_

_Did I continue on the Path I was, the Follower? Stepping into my brothers footprints in the sand, until I, too, followed orders and buried myself in Kiri's bloody world? Never taking that jump into the Unknown?_

_Or did I stray from the pack and Lead? Step away from the shallows without being able to swim, Koufukude a riptide just waiting to yank me beneath the surface and drown me without care. Was I willing to **die** for a single, minuscule chance at being **more** than a Follower?_

_Was I willing to jump into the Abyss with blind faith? Or a devil-may-care grin?_

_...Heh._

_Like there was any other option now that I knew._

_I always did love a good challenge._

_Turning away from my Brother's Door, I stepped towards Koufukude's, and Kisame's Door **bled** , the sound of carrion birds dripping onto the ground with the hot, crimson liquid, the scent of copper and death filling my nose, threatening to make me gag... _

_I trailed bloody footsteps as I pushed Koufukude's door open, and..._

...I blinked, abruptly back to myself, staring into the black eye before me, and glared.

"Are you finished, Sukouru-Sama?" I asked firmly, frowning at him, and the King Shark considered me a long moment, before he bared his fangs in a grin.

"Never, Young Summoner," he rumbled, lazily swimming back to his Throne as I turned to watch him. "You have passed the first, vital test. You are able to Summon those your Chakra can reach. This is not the final Test, nor will it be the easiest nor hardest. We are Predators, child. A single, _flicker_ of weakness, and-" He snapped his jaws suddenly, the power of the move sending the water around us rippling, actually managing to push me several feet away.

"No matter how close you think you are to your Summons, child, _never_ forget that we will devour you the moment your resolve fails you." His eyes were dead and cold. "We are _Sharks_. Never forget." I slowly nodded, staring at him.

"Hai, Sukouru-Sama." We stared for several moments longer, before the Great White hummed and lifted once more, turning his back on me and the Cavern at large.

" _Dismissed_ ," he stated, tone devoid of emotion and as cold as the seas of Kiri. As he swam slowly away, a small contingent of Pilot Fish Attendants, all wearing purple, see-through, kimono-like clothes and trailing behind and beneath the King demurely, joined him. They swam quietly, humming and chanting soft prayers as they went, one of them softly ringing a small chime every few feet reverently.

Staring after him, I barely kept from flinching as a shadow fell over me. Turning slowly, purposefully controlled, I glared up into the considering face of one of the Bull Shark Guards, its armor dark bronze and an X-shaped scar on the end of its blunt, almost-square snout.

"...You're a curious little Pup," it stated, masculine voice a deep, drawling sound, like a drawn-out note of a large gong. "...If you live long enough to Summon a Warrior, or are in need of a good killer, call upon me. I am Takeo of the Bull Sharks, 5th Guard Battaleon." He smiled, then, more a purposeful baring of teeth than an actual smile, and I returned the gesture, my own shark-fanged mouth stretched wider than ever before, and I unconsciously dragged the tip of my tongue against the emerging second row of teeth I'd only just begun growing, hidden behind my normal teeth like a tease. Takeo chuckled lowly and swam away to rejoin his fellow Guards, and Makoto reappeared.

"Whoa-ho-ho, _man_ that was crazy!" He declared, grinning nervously as he eyed the surrounding Sharks, his Patrol Frenzy swiftly joining us, encircling the two of us instinctively. "Let's get you home, Pup!" I hesitated, taking one last moment to stare up at the many, many Sharks who were now conversing or leaving, before I nodded slowly and reached out to set a hand against his neck, just behind his gills.

"Take me home, Makoto," I told him quietly, and, with an unnatural twist of his fins, the Blacktip obeyed.

Mother and Hekima-Sensei were _far_ from pleased when I returned, but I still got to choose desert that night as a reward for my first Summoning.

(Never before have Crepes tasted so sweet)

  


**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

  


I stared at the Blade.

The Blade stared back.

We were silent in our battle of wills, my silver eyes holding it's pearl as I knelt at my Father's shrine.

I had been kneeling for three hours, silent and still and _staring_. The Blade had, at first, remained as still and 'normal' as any regular blade but, after the first hour, I had felt it's Chakra spike and the shark head had turned, unnaturally mobile, to stare straight at me. Our Staring Match had begun then, and it hadn't faltered since. Mother had hovered watchfully in the doorway of the house for those long two hours, but she had since returned to the kitchen to finish dinner before her shift as Gate Guard. She would be leaving me with Hekima-Sensei to continue my lessons.

But that wasn't for another few hours, and I refused to move until I had either won or we came to a Draw.

I glared at the Blade, which hissed mockingly in return, and hardened my Resolve.

_I would not Fail._

  


**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

  


The Staring Matches continued for days. I only moved away for my lessons, meals, sleep, and the restroom.

I sat there in the rain or shine, when the Mist grew so thick I had to lean uncomfortabley close to the Blade to keep eye contact.

After the third day in a row, it stopped pretending to be normal, it's silver shark head turning to me immediately, _expectantly_ , when I exited the house.

And still, our Battle raged.

"You're going to get yourself killed, Guppy," Kisame complained at dinner. "Leave that damned menace where it is as the only thing it'll ever be good for. A _headstone_."

"You're as stubborn as an oyster with a pearl in it's hold," Mother groused. "You're _just_ like your Father, I swear sometimes he's back to haunt me."

"Do not falter, Pup," Hekima-Sensei told me simply. "You have your goal, you've started down the path, _continue onwards_. Even when the current pushes you back, you do not stop swimming. Some would say find a different path towards the same goal, and, perhaps, in other situations this is true. Being able to adapt is important, Pup. But this Path is _yours_. _Own it_."

I followed her advice, not that I was thinking about stopping, anyways.

It was my fourth birthday when our battle changed.

That morning, when I stepped towards the Shrine, someone was waiting.

"Die!" The man, a Civillian by the look of him, snarled as he lunged out from behind the Shrine, a heavy-looking Club in his hands, and the only thing that kept my head from being caved in was my instinctive lunge forward. Eyes wide, heart in my throat and fear biting sharply into my mind, I staggered and spun to face the man, one of the Bloodline Haters, as he wildly swung his club at me again. This time, I could see it, and I was trapped within the Shrine, I couldn't move away in time, _it was going to hit me_ -!

Something latched onto my hand, a sharp, sudden pain, and I flinched, yanking my hand away and forward, only to stare in shock as Koufukude swung foward, shark head biting deep into my hand, eyes black and hissing furiously.

The black metal of the blade seemed to gleam red as I inadvertantly swung it, and the world slowed down.

Koufukude and the club connected, and Chakra seemed to spark down the Blade, before it suddenly cut through the club, and the man, as easily as breathing.

I stared blankly as bright red blood erupted from the man's gut, a fountain of arterial spray that indicated I'd hit the abdominal aorta. The blood sprayed fever hot across my face as the man choked and fell to the side, and I caught sight of the pinks, lavenders, and pale oranges of his cut intestines beginning to spill out of the open wound, some whole and some cut, exposing their insides as well. I could hear him gurgling, drowning in his blood from the lung I'd sliced through the bottom of, even as he died from massive hemorrhaging. The smell of his ruptured intestine and digestive track was faint under the overwhelming smell of copper, the stench of feces and stomach bile almost a _taste_ in the air.

I'd nearly cut him in two at the stomach, at an upward angle from where I'd flailed with Koufukude, cutting him from just above his left hip and upward, through the diaphragm, and back down in an almost hook-like wound.

Koufukude was growling, a low, hungry sound, the black Blade pulsing as the shark head released my hand, but my fingers had curled around the hilt, so, while the blade slapped into the ground, it didn't fall completely.

I distantly noted that I was in shock, too cold and stunned from both the initial attack and the death of my attacker. Beneath the almost muffled feelings, I felt the drain on my Chakra, already half-gone as Koufukude's price, but the Blade wasn't eating it all, was slowing down on it's feeding even.

Staring at the man on the ground, I watched as he finally died, and, slowly, sank to the ground, sitting against the stone table that held my Father's plaque and the Blades resting stand.

There was blood on Father's Shrine now.

Slowly, as if I was moving through thick gelatin, I lifted Koufukude, my unaccustomed muscles straining a little under the Blades weight, as I rested it over my thighs. I let go of the handle as I stared, my right hand baring the bloody teeth marks of the shark head, deep enough I knew they'd need stitches.

The pearls of its eyes were still black, and it was staring at me.

"...Thank you," I murmured to it hoarsely, tone blank, eyes unfocused. Koufukude crooned at me, and fell silent, black slowly fading from its eyes.

We stayed like that for an hour, before Kisame came home from his Mission, Mother with him as they'd both finished early for the day so we could celebrate my birthday together. They found me sitting at the Shrine, covered in blood and pale as death, slowly stroking my fingers down Koufukude's blade next to a long-cold corpse.

Happy birthday to me.

 

 


	2. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter that brings up the Rape Warning! Please take care of yourselves, it is not overly described because Sameha isn't there to see the entirety of it, but it is mentioned and heavily alluded to and one of those "You don't have to see it to know exactly what's going on" scenes. DARK CHAPTER!!

** **Shark Teeth** **

****.1.** **

The sun had barely risen, peering through the heavy mist and glinting off the heavy dew that covered everything, the air chilly from the night.

"Too slow," Kisame snapped as the heavy wooden practice swords we held smacked together, the force of his blow sending me staggering backwards, directly into his kick. I hissed under my breath as I rolled with the momentum, coming up swinging, barely managing to block his blade in time to dodge another hit. "Faster, Guppy! You think you're going to make it to Genin with that footwork?! Ha! I'll bash your damn skull in and save the Academy an extra space!" Another kick connected and I grunted as this one sent me flying again.

Despite holding back his considerable strength, my Brother is eighteen versus my five-year-old self, and he wasn't about to go easy on me.

"Is that all you've got?!" He snarled, and I hissed back, baring my fangs as I staggered to my feet, coated in dew, dirt, sweat, blood and bruises, shivering from the chilly air. I lifted my lead-centered training sword defiantly as Hekima-Sensei and Mother watched on from the sidelines.

"Again," I snapped at him; baring his own fangs, my Brother obliged.

My sword lessons continued along that vein, like usual, before he finally called them to a halt so he could go to the Mission Office for duty. Gulping down the light breakfast Mother had made, and guzzling down a cup of fruit juice, I moved quickly back outside to my lessons with Hekima-Sensei. The Nurse Shark was calm and patient but unrelenting as she taught me calligraphy, etiquette (Both for Sharks and for Humans of various standings), and the History of the various Elemental Countries and the Hidden Villages.

This was the same schedule I'd had since my first kill over a year ago. I would train in the Sword with my Brother from dawn until mid-morning, sometimes earlier if my Brother had to leave early. Then I would have these etiquette and theory lessons with Hekima-Sensei. After Lunch, I would have two more hours learning Chakra Control Exercises, or just doing more of them, because, thanks to Koufukude, I was almost constantly losing or doubling my Chakra, and I needed the control so I would actually be able to  _become_  a Genin one day.

After Chakra Exercises, I would practice Summoning, and whichever Shark I Summoned would teach me whatever they like (One memorable session with a Silky Shark named Miyah, had been two hours learning about the Kami's, or Gods, that most Shark's worshiped (if they were inclined) which was mostly Ryuujin the Dragon God of the Sea, with some polite prayers to Suijin the God of Water. She also taught me several different Prayers and how to use Ofuda, paper talismans with Seals on them to exorcise evil spirits and lesser demons, and some for warding off bad luck). I would train with that Summons, or another one if the first left or finished teaching me, until Dinner. After dinner I was free to do whatever I wanted, which was either cleaning and caring for Koufukude, or collapsing into bed.

"Today I will be telling you the story of your Line Mother," Hekima-Sensei informed me after I finished an hour of Calligraphy. I nodded and sat down in front of the Nurse Shark, who absently reached up and adjusted her little glasses.

"Long ago, when the Sage of Six Paths was young, there was a Princess who lived by the Sea," Hekima-Sensei began. "Her name was Nyoko, and she was well known for her beautiful looks. She was, by human standards, unrivaled in her beauty, with long black hair and pale skin and bright silver eyes. Many came from all over the world, even a few lesser kami's came, to try and marry the Princess, but she refused, again and again and again. After each refusal, she would spend days sitting on the shore of the beach, staring out at the Sea and watching the fishermen do their work. Her love for the Sea and it's creatures, the life and beauty of it, filled her entire being, and how could a man, kami or not, ever rival such a love?" I had a feeling I knew where this was going, as it was beginning to sound like many folktales from my previous life, and leaned forward a little, curious.

"One day, a Fisherman caught a young Shark in his net, and, frightened, moved to kill the Shark, but Nyoko-Hime cried out for him to stop, to let the Shark go, but the Fisherman refused. He claimed that the Shark would just eat his fish, or attack the village children when they swam in the water. Why should he let it go? By Nyoko-Hime begged him to, and promised to give him a favor, no matter what it was, if he would just release the Shark. Of course the Fisherman agreed, and, as soon as the Shark was returned to the water, he demanded the Princess marry him and, trapped by her favor, Nyoko-hime agreed. And so, the Princess married the Fisherman, and was miserable for it. The Fisherman was greedy and cruel, eager to control the power of being Nyoko-hime's husband. He ordered her servants and the villagers about like dogs, beating them whenever his orders weren't followed to his unreasonable expectations. And he would beat Nyoko-hime as well, because she was His Wife, and so had to obey him, as was the expectations of the time." I grimaced as I heard that.

There were many things I missed about my old life, and the treatment of women was one of them. Sure, there were still countries and people who believed women were lesser, but it was far from the  _norm_  as it tended to be here. Even Kunoichi are seen as less dangerous and less powerful as Shinobi, and, while our Chakra  _did_  tend to lean towards fine control rather than power, it was almost  _expected_  that kunoichi would learn either Genjutsu (Illusions) or Iryojutsu (Healing) and that they would never be front-line fighters. It was annoying and sexist. My Mother is a Jounin, a strong one with good Chakra Control, a decent arsenal of Suiton and Doton Jutsus, and the fierce vicious intelligence of our Clan, and yet she was almost always regulated to In-Village missions and lower-risk missions  _just because_  she was a woman, as well as a Kekkei Genkai user.

It was  _frustrating_ , to say the least.

"Every day," Hekima-Sensei continued, immediately regaining my attention, "Nyoko-hime would return to the shore and weep into the Sea, mourning her freedom. She did this for years, as her Village fell into despair alongside her under the cruel wrath of her Husband. One day, however, when she reached the shore, there was someone waiting for her in the water. It was the Shark, grown massive and powerful, and he called out to her as she stopped at the edge of the sea. 'Princess,' he called, 'I have come to pay the debt I owe to you, for, if it hadn't been for your sacrifice, I would have died that day all those years ago, and I would not be as strong as I am now. Name your price, and I shall do everything in my power to repay it!' and then he waited, watching her."  _Yes_ , I thought _, just like Folklore_.

"Nyoko-hime thought of several different favors she could ask. She thought of her Husband, of asking for his death, but she discarded the thought, for as cruel and unjust as he was, she felt that killing him in such a way would be too kind. She thought of asking the Shark to take her away, or to kill her, or to serve her as a pet or slave or guard, and each thought was discarded just as swiftly as it came. After many long minutes, she knew what she wanted to ask, for, out of all her desires and greed and hate, there was one thing she wanted more than anything, and that was a Child. Her Husband was sterile, and would not hesitate to kill any she bore from another man, however, and so she would need to use a Spell she had once heard of as a child, a Spell that would give her a strong, powerful child who would live.

'I know what I shall ask of you, Shark,' she told him.

'Name your favor,' the Shark urged, and the Princess smiled wider.

'I need you to go on a long journey, and bring me four items from the most powerful creature in the Sea,' she told him.

'What are the items?' he demanded, and the Princess told him.

'I will need one of it's teeth, it's skin, it's blood, and it's heart," she told him, and the Shark agreed, he would hunt the Sea for this creature, and bring her all that she asked." Nodding along, I shifted a bit to get more comfortable as Hekima-Sensei took a drink of the tea cup my Mother had made for her before the story began.

"It was many years before the Shark returned, and the Princess met him once more at the edge of the Sea.

'Did you bring me what I asked?' the Princess asked the Shark.

'I did,' he told her.

'Where is the tooth of the most powerful creature of the Sea?' she asked.

'It's here,' the Shark told her, and tore out one of his own teeth.

'The Skin?' she asked, and he riped away a long strip of his own skin. ' The blood?' she continued, and had the Shark bleed onto it's torn sheet of skin.

'I could not tear out my heart for you,' the Shark told her, 'but I will hold still so you may get to it yourself.' and he lifted himself up so that she could. Using the Shark's tooth, the Princess cut out his heart." I blinked in surprise, brow furrowed, and Hekima-Sensei explained. "You see, she had learned the harsh lesson from her youth, that kindness and weakness would lead only to misery. After all, if she hadn't been so weak, so kind, she would not have been trapped in the marriage with the cruel fisherman. Had she let him kill the Shark, she would still be free, but, since she was not, she would not be weak again." Slowly I nodded. "May I continue?"

"Yes please, Hekima-Sensei," I responded politely; the Nurse Shark nodded.

"Nyoko-hime took her prize and carried it back to her castle. That night, while her husband was sleeping, the Princess wrapped the bloody skin around herself and snuck out to the garden. She used the Tooth to cut her palm, and bled onto the heart which she then cut in half, eating one of the pieces. After finishing her half, the Princess pulled off the bloody skin and wrapped the second piece in it, until it was no more than a small, tight bundle. She then buried the bundle beneath her husbands favorite persimmons tree and returned to bed. The next day, her husband found that his favorite tree had bloomed, heavy with ripe, sweet fruit. For seven days she watched her husband gorge himself on the fruit, becoming fatter and fatter, until he could no longer leave their bed, so large was he.

"On the eighth day, the Princess took the Shark's tooth, which she had carried with her the entire time, and cut open her husbands bloated stomach. There, hidden amongst his organs, she found the Child she had so wished for, the size of a toddler and already fierce. It was a boy, with the same colored skin as the Shark had been, with his teeth and killer grace, radiating power, but the child also had her eyes and hair. As she pulled her child from her husbands corpse, she kissed his forehead and smiled at the smell of Persimmons.

'Your name is Hoshigaki Same,' she told the child, 'in honor of the creature who helped bring you to life, and the fruit that helped bare you.' And so, the Hoshigaki Clan began." Slowly, I blinked.

That was... Unexpected.

"So, we're descended directly from sharks and our first official member was born out of a man's fruit obsession?" I asked slowly; Hekima-Sensei nodded calmly, and sipped her tea. "...Huh," was all I could say, and, really, what else  _could_  I say? After a few moments, Hekima-Sensei sat her cup down.

"Shall we move on to the next Chakra Exercise?" She asked, and I nodded. "Excellent. This next exercise is called..."

****/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** **

I was running faster than I've ever run before, black hair recently cut shorter so that it spiked upwards, and looked almost like a of shark fin as I cut through the streets of Kiri, Koufukude on my back as I ran. Sweat poured down my face as I pumped Chakra through my muscles and lungs, forcing them to work overtime, extending my stamina. I threw myself over the ledge of a building and damn near landed on my Brother as he stood talking to his teacher.

"Hi, Kisame, bye Kisame!" I shouted, before throwing myself into a roll as my current Summons appeared out of nowhere and damn-near bit off my arm.

"You've gotta get faster than that if you wanna survive, Pup!" Eri the Shortfin Mako, fastest Shark in the Sea, mocked viciously, baring her teeth as she grinned at me, a scar crossing over the top of her head like a dark red headband. "Move it or lose it!" She snarled viciously, snapping her teeth, and I was off, throwing myself up buildings, over roofs, and between one unsuspecting Jounin's legs at one point. Eri was speed-training me, Shark Style, which was literally a sort of horribly deadly game of Tag. If she managed to get a bite out of me, I'd lose, and with loss came more bites, because Eri was a vicious little thing.

It  _was_  good motivation, however, because normal, non-Summons Shortfin Mako's are literally the fastest Sharks in the world, and can reach up to  _sixty_  miles per hour.

Eri can use Chakra to go even  _faster_  but, thankfully, she'd agreed that she wouldn't use any Chakra beyond the Control Exercise all the Sharks used to stay alive and breathing outside of water.

Dropping into a slide beneath a fruit-stand, just in time for the Mako to smack into the wood centimeters from my head, a fierce grin curled my lips, baring my fangs.

I could definitely see the attractiveness of the Hunt, even if it was from the Prey's point of view. The thrill of the chase was still there, and, tearing down an alleyway, I couldn't stop grinning.

****/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** **

I was six when Kisame became a member of the Seven Swordsmen, and something... Changed, in him. He stopped being gruffly affectionate, and just seemed to throw himself into his new role. He trained with Samehada all the time, challenged anyone he could to a fight, stopped training with me, he even stopped talking to us for the most part.

I guess I could understand if it was just his age and the environment. A nineteen-year-old Jounin who was powerful and talented enough to wield the most dangerous weapon in an elite group of Shinobi who wielded similar weapons wouldn't want to be bogged down by his much,  _much_  younger sibling or his strict, no-nonsense mother. But it  _wasn't_  just age and environment. It was the fact that he'd had to kill his Teacher, a man he admired, for being a Traitor. He'd realized that  _everyone_  lied. Everyone did stupid, pointless things for greedy, selfish reasons.

Killing his traitor of a Teacher had just compounded it, and Kisame was lashing out at the world, not us personally.

It still hurt, however, but that was a stupid notion to hold onto.

So, instead of focusing on Kisame or how I honestly missed our morning spars, I learned to Summon Takeo, and  _he_  took over in the mornings.

Unfortunately, he and my brother were  _very_  similar in technique, which was why I was bleeding heavily from several nasty cuts as I struggled to dodge the vicious Guard's own blade, a massive tooth that was from his own mouth, manipulated and treated with Chakra until it was as unyielding as steel and as long as Kubikiribouchou, the massive butcher-knife-like blade that was now wielded by Momochi Zabuza, fresh from ANBU and making his way in the Shinobi world as bloody and vicious as any shark. The Shark Tooth Blade (Ironically called Sameha as well, with a different spelling) was wielded with skill and viciousness, and supplemented with Suiton Jutsus that looked like miniature Bull Sharks which launched after you if you dodged the blade.

Their teeth were solid enough, if the bleeding bite marks on my arms and legs were anything to go by.

"Focus, Pup!" Takeo's voice snarled, and I had just enough time to bring Koufukude up to block the Sameha, grunting as I was forced away, feet skidding in the dirt. "Lose your focus, lose your head! A Warrior has self-control in even their most berserk state!" He shouted at me, glaring. "If you can't keep your head on straight, you don't deserve to keep it!"

"I'm trying!" I snapped, honestly frustrated. "I'm learning, adapting, doing all that I can do, but I can't progress this way without knowing  _how_! You can't toss a fish on land and tell it to breathe, damn it! You have to tell it  _how_!" Takeo huffed and, with a toss of his head, threw Sameha high in the air, where it spun once before slicing downward and back into the sheath on the Bull Sharks back.

"Lesson time then," he growled, jerking his head towards he water. Grimacing, I re-sheathed my own Blade and followed him, ignoring the biting sting of my wounds as I walked into the sea. "Every young Warrior learns what I'm about to teach you, Pup," he told me gruffly. "It takes years to master, and some never do, they get to a certain point and no further, You are  _not_  a Shark, but you are as close as a human can get, so you may  _never_  master this, or you just might get it faster, I don't know." Warily, I nodded, chin dipping under the water as we came to a stop finally.

"Killer Intent," the Bull Shark started slowly, circling me absently as he began the impromptu lesson, "is the subconscious use of Chakra to project a particular emotion. It is most often used to inflict intimidation and fear upon those around you, but it can also be used to  _actually_  kill someone who has less Chakra than what you use to project. For example, your Mother could kill a Civilian if she used a high enough level of Killer Intent. You Brother, however, could kill your Mother with  _his_  Killer Intent if he wished. You...  _If_  you could manage it, could, currently, at least kill a high Genin or Low Chunin, but you're still growing, and that damned sword of yours makes your Control a flimsy thing." Snapping his jaws in mild annoyance, Takeo continued.

"Sharks are natural masters of Killer Intent. We are  _physical aspects_  of Killer Intent, murderous, vicious Predators who know death and blood before we even open our eyes. We live, breath, and die Killers. However, we have  _Instincts_  which can aide us... Or ruin us," he stated coldly, coming to stop to stare at me with completely black eyes, making a point to take a slow, long inhale of water... Water tinged pink from my  _blood_.

"From a young age, those of use strong enough to survive begin learning  _control_. To do so, they are put in situations, either through physical or Genjutsu means, that effect their Instincts. As a Summoner of the Great Shark's as well as a Hoshigaki, you are  _connected_ to us. Here, in the Sea, you will learn as we do." Those black eyes gleamed and I could feel his Chakra spike. " _Sameton: Chi ni za Mizu_ ," he growled, and everything just  _shifted_.

All I could smell was  _blood_ , taste it, feel it, it was  _everywhere_  and I  **wanted it**. I wanted to  _taste it_ , roll in it until I was flush and stained, devour whatever it was until the sudden, voracious hunger in my belly  _went away_  and I was fat with it. My vision was tinted red,  _everything was tinted red_ , and the sound that tore from my throat was so guttural and hungry it  _hurt_.

"That's it, Pup," Takeo's voice was a distant rumble, like ripples in a puddle, coming to me through blood-covered water as the Shark circled. "Feel it, embrace it, but  _own it_." I struggled, trying to focus, but the  _blood_  was just...

Shuddering, I ducked under the water and sucked the bloody water in, mouth open as I shivered and bit back an eager whine, the taste of blood coating my tongue and my eyes grew half-lidded as I lazily followed Takeo's shadow with my eyes. It was... Easier, under water, when I could see that it was  _my_  blood and not some poor Prey animal's. Takeo's movements constantly distracted me as I struggled to  _focus_ , little flicks of his tail or fins making me struggle not to  _lunge_ , not to  _bite._

He kept me in that state for over an hour, struggling against myself, and, even after he released the Jutsu ( _Shark Release: Blood in the Water_ , which was a physically mental-state altering Genjutsu) it took me ages to focus again, enough to slowly make my way out of the water to where my Mother and Hekima-Sensei waited, Takeo following behind me. I caught sight of my reflection as I walked out of the shallows and paused to stare. My skin was pale, tight with tension and stark edges of hunger and aggression, and the silver of my eyes was completely swallowed by black, my gills flared out to absorb every nuance of the air and water I breathed.

"The mental state you were in is called The Frenzy," Takeo told me calmly as I shakily forced myself to kneel down before my Mother and Hekima-Sensei as they watched me, sipping tea. "It is a Berserker-like ability, that naturally raises your sensory abilities, speed, endurance, Chakra, and physical strength at the cost of overwhelming instincts and bloodthirsty hunger. It takes Pup's several years to learn how to not just  _attack_  while in that state, to plan ahead and use it to their advantage. You did well, for your first time, although that's more likely because you're human than anything." Nodding to my Mother and Tutor, Takeo rolled his body in a shrug-like movement. "You'll need raw meat or something similar in order to calm down, and you'll likely feel very tired afterwards, but you will recover. Tomorrow, I'll teach you how to inflict The Frenzy on yourself so you can train under its influence. Until tomorrow," he announced, nodding once more and dismissing himself.

Sitting there, muscles trembling, I could only shiver and glare weakly at Hekima-Sensei as she sipped her tea, Mother going to get me some meat to eat so I was calm enough for my lessons.

"You'll adapt, Pup, no worries," the Nurse Shark told me absently as the light reflected from her little glasses, making them flash ominously. "To stop adapting is to die, after all." After that, she ignored me and, when my mother came back with a bowl of raw red meat, cut into cubes, I ignored the both of them as well.

Instead, I fell on the meat without hesitation, tearing into each chunk ravenously as blood dripped down my fingers and chin. It was one of the most delicious thing's I'd ever tasted, rich and metallic and almost-sweet, and the slight red-tinge at the corners of my eyes faded with every hungry bite.

"The fuck happened to you, Guppy?" Kisame's voice asked as he passed by on his way to the Missions Office, but I just growled at him and stuffed more bloody meat in my mouth, glaring at him with still-black eyes.

"Training incident," Mother told him mildly, sipping her tea and not looking at him, and he just stood there for a moment, staring, as I finished the meat and started to lick the bowl and my fingers both.

It wasn't the last time he would be found staring at me with fascination over the next several months as I trained under the influence of the Sameton Jutsu.

It was, however, one of the last times I saw him do it.

The final time was the same day he defected from Kiri, a week before my seventh birthday.

After that, I didn't care anymore.

A traitor was a traitor. This one just happened to be personal.

****/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** **

The Villagers came for us in the middle of the night.

I woke to Mother shouting, to the bright flash of a Katon Jutsu as the roof lit up like dry twigs, to Koufukude snarling from his place next to my bed, within arms reach. Scrambling out of bed, dressed in nothing but my nightclothes, I grabbed the Blade and the emergency Pack Mother had made sure I'd had at the ready once we heard Kisame had Defected. Then, I lifted the heavy trapdoor that lead beneath the house, the same one marked with Seals of concealment and protection, and slid down into the sandy tunnel that would take me to the Sea.

I barely made it out of the house and to the opening before my Mother  _screamed_. Scrambling out of the tunnel, I whirled around in time to see my Mother's arm cut off by one of her former  _comrades_ , to see them, sneering and jeering and viciously cruel, bare her to the ground and begin cutting into her, cutting off her clothes. To the side, Hekima-Sensei was pinned beneath a pair of massive Walrus Summons in heavy armor, their tusks coated in serrated steel as they tore into her, until she managed to desperately Dismiss herself.

I barely managed to throw myself away from the scene of the Bloodline Haters  _violating_  my Mother even as they stabbed and mutilated her, to dodge the grab of another, the reek of Sake thick on the Chunin's breath as he laughed mockingly.  _Stupid_ , I scolded myself as I backed away from him warily.  _Shouldn't have looked back, you **know better**!_

"Come here, you little  _whore_ ," the drunk Chunin spat viciously, and rage roared through me, as intense as The Frenzy's hunger, and Koufukude was in my hand and slicing his head from his shoulders before I could even think of it. His blood fountained out, headless corpse staggering a step before falling, and there was a shout from the group surrounding my Mother as one of her attackers moved to come after me, but my Mother (Brave, bright, vicious  _Mother_ ) twisted her torso, breasts mutilated and covered in blood under the fire light, and sank her teeth into the back of his knee, ripping out the artery there with a snarl as the man screamed.

" _RUN SAMEHA!_ " Mother screamed at me, even as they descended on her once more, and I  _ran_ , straight towards the Ocean, muscles straining under the sudden rush of the Chakra I forced through them. Behind me, I could hear the Mob snarling and shouting, hear the ones they sent after me, hear the ones that  _stayed_.

Tears threatened to blind me as I dove towards the water, but, before I could get there, a Jounin used what I recognized as the  _Shunshin_  to appear before me, and I barely managed to block his strike with Koufukude, his hooked kunai slicing deep into my cheek, just under my right eye, and then a kick slammed into my ribs, sending me flying to the side, the crack of my ribs breaking echoed by the intense  _pain_  of it as I choked and gasped and rolled in the sand, my other pursuers laughing mockingly.

"Little Shark Whore," one of them jeered, as I scrambled, swaying, to my feet, Koufukude feeling almost too heavy as my vision wavered. Blood was flowing down the gills on my face and neck, soaking into my sleeping top, as I held my blade up defensively while the Chunin began to approach, the Jounin stalking forward with such cold, cold eyes they looked like a sharks.

I wouldn't make it out of this alive, not injured as I was with only Koufukude.

Snarling at them, I staggered backwards, but I'd been kicked away from the water, my only true escape as, despite being Kiri Shinobi,  _no one_  could beat a Hoshigaki beneath the water. I was surrounded on two sides, blocked off from the Sea, with the rocky cliff-side at my back and only the way back towards my home and the rest of the Mob left open.

Like  _hell_  was I going to die here like this.

Letting Koufukude's blade drop into the sand, I flashed through hand-signs around its shark-head, feeling it freely offer up its store of Chakra, the blade all but glowing with the power it began to emit, the sand around it's tip turning to  _glass_.

This might kill me, but if it did, it would still be  _my choice_.

" _Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Sukouru-sama!_ " I screamed as the Jounin  _moved_ , hooked kunai lodging  _through_  my left shoulder miliseconds before I was sent  _flying_ into the air as the King of Sharks tore into existence beneath me, the Jounin screaming just as those jaws ripped him in two, blood spraying the surrounding Chunins in a grisly entrance as they all threw themselves backwards with cries of surprise and fear. I landed hard, choking on a cry as the hooked-kunai jostled, my left arm completely limp.

" _Hoshigaki Sameha_ ," The King growled, a deep, frigid fury in his tone, but I interrupted him, snarling myself as blood soaked me and my right hand gripped Koufukude's handle hard enough to bleach the color from my whole hand as I used the Blade as a crutch to force myself, swaying, to my feet.

"These  _traitorous rats_ are _killing and raping_ my **_mother_** ," I snarled at him, trembling in pain and terror and rage as I shoved my face up close to his uninjured eye, fangs bared. "I will  _bathe the sand_  in their  _blood_.  _Help. Me_." He stared at me, eye as cold and black as a mirror, deeper than the sea and ten times as unforgiving, before one of the Chunin's sped through his own Summoning Jutsu.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu: Renjiro!" With a cloud of smoke, a large vicious-looking Leopard Seal appeared, dressed in armor and patterned with nearly as many scars as Sukouru-Sama (Actually, some of them looked like shark-bites...) On it's head was a black bandanna with the Kanji for two. The Leopard Seal barred small, sharp fangs in a menacing smile, eyes landing on Sukouru-Sama, and the Shark King growled lowly.

"I was going to bite your damned head off for Summoning me again, Goro, but it seems you decided to bring me dinner and a  _show_ ," the Seal purr/growled, masculine voice slightly hoarse as he licked his lips, glancing first at me, and then locking eyes with Sukouru-Sama. "Always did have a taste for  _Shark Fin Soup_."

"...Hoshigaki Sameha," the Shark King growled out lowly. "I will fight with you...  _For now_."

"Hai, Sukouru-Sama," I murmured, Koufukude hissing eagerly in my hand, sending heavy pulses of Chakra through me and staving off both the pain from my impaled shoulder and the blood-loss, flickers of Chakra temporarily cauterizing the wound around the blade.

I didn't wait for the Shark King to give orders, but tucked my currently-useless left arm into my shirt so it was pinned out of the way, pumped Chakra into my muscles, and darted to the side, lunging at the Chunin closest to the pathway back to my home. The fire was still burning brightly, if the orange glow over the tree tops was anything to go by.

The Chunin wasn't expecting it, and Koufukude sliced through his attempted kunai-block, and his hand, easily, making the man scream, but I cut that off too as I lunged at him, fangs sinking into his throat as a familiar red tinge began to swamp my vision. I struggled to shove the red away as I ripped out his throat, instinctively swallowing the familiar taste of raw meat, hot and thick with copper that coated my tongue and throat, blood rupturing out of the gaping wound to spray me in the face. I staggered back as the Chunin collapsed with a gurgling, choking noise, blinking blood out of my eyes and shuddering through the almost-euphoric feeling of  _Biting_ and  _Rending_  that came from The Frenzy.

_I wouldn't lose myself here._

"You little bitch!" Another Chunin snarled, but Sukouru-Sama  _moved_ , speed and grace in motion, eating the distance between himself and the Chunin faster than any Shunshin I'd ever witnessed. His teeth latched onto the man and threw him high in the air, before he lunged up after him, massive body  _swimming_  upwards with a graceful flex of his scarred body, and bit the man in half, curling mid-air to come flying back down in a curtain of blood and gore, mouth open wide, only...

A sparking, massive ball of  _lightning_  was between his teeth.

" _Raiton: Kiba no Kamigami_ ," he roared, and launched the  _massive_  lightning Jutsu. The huge ball of sparking lightning transformed as it flew, until if formed the wide-open mouth of a Great White, which slammed into the ground, electrocuting two of the remaining five Chunin. Goro the Summoner only survived because his Leopard Seal Summons grabbed him and leaped into the air, while the other two managed to throw themselves out of the blast zone. That was all I had a chance to see before the Jutsu exploded into a blinding flash of light and I was forced to cover my face as a blast of hot sand flew into the air.

Once I'd blinked the afterimages from my eyes and looked back, I could only stare in stunned awe for a moment. The sand around the attack had turned to glowing, molten glass in the shape of a shark, teeth and all, and the two Chunin who'd been caught were no more than blackened husks, the meat burned away leaving open-jawed skulls and reaching, skeletal hands behind. The smell of ozone, heat, and burned flesh was thick in the air left behind.

 _Bite of the Gods is right,_  I thought, only mildly hysterical, as I quickly shook myself into focus and used the distraction to stab Koufukude through the back of one of the remaining Chunin who had been unfortunate enough to jump to safety close to where I was. That left only Goro and his Seal, and one other Chunin, a woman, who looked damn scared and ready to bolt.

 _Good_ , I though viciously as I stepped between her and the pathway back to her mob. Distantly, I could hear the sound of my  _home_  collapsing under flames, but I could no longer hear Mother screaming.

At least, not with my ears.

"So, the fish knows some Raiton, huh?" the Seal, Renjiro, jeered with a nasty smile. "How about I show you some  _real_  Jutsu, huh, Fishy~!  _Doton: Bureiku no Sanmyaku_!" He called, his flippers twisting with surprising grace to form the signs. As he slammed them into the ground to call up his Earth Release: Crash of Mountains, I threw myself at the female Chunin while she was distracted. She must have been better, or less drunk, than her companions, however, because she managed to dodge my attack by leaping straight up, hands flashing through Seals as she went.

Unfortunately for me, I found myself caught between the ranges of whatever technique she was using and the Earth Release Jutsu of the Leopard Seal...

Which turned out to be eight more leopard seals, twice his size, made of earth with wicked, dagger like teeth of jagged stone that could move in multiple directions at once, four converging on Sukouru-Sama and the other four on me. Add to that that the Chunin was releasing a Water Bullet at me, and I couldn't pick a direction to move.

Koufukude  _pulsed_ , in my hand, and I hissed through my teeth as I slashed the Blade over my head, the Chakra coating the red-tinged black blade slicing through the Chunin's Water Bullet easily, making the water turn to steam, which I swiftly used to hide my movements from the attacking Earth Seals, leaping onto ones head and using it and another's tail to lunge after the falling Chunin, who was attempting to perform another Jutsu, but my hands moved faster.

" _Sameton: Chi ni za Mizu_!" I snapped, and let The Frenzy fall over not only  _me_ , but  _her_ as well, swamping the two of us in the Red Haze. She immediately fell to her knees with a choked, hungry sound, pupils expanding and mouth falling open to pant, expression blank with hunger, mind clouded. I only stumbled a single step, already working to filter through the Jutsu, and lunged at her with a hungry growl, Koufukude slicing through the air with a hungry hiss of his own, tearing her head from her body as I lunged forward even further, mouth open to catch the fountaining blood, whining as I shuddered under the red curtain, senses swamped and overwhelmed.

_I wanted **more**!_

I fell into The Frenzy, tearing into the dead Chunin in a red haze, until I was suddenly grabbed by the back of my shirt and thrown into the air, yelping as a surge of foreign Chakra snapped through my system, breaking the hold the Shark Release had on me. I blinked red from my eyes in time to land on Sukouru-Sama's back as the Shark King sent four of Mizu Bunshin, or Water Clones, at Renjiro, the Leopard Seal barking out maniacal laughs as he controlled his massive Earth Seals, of which there were only three left.

"Back with us again, Summoner?" the Shark King growled, and I blinked, lifting my red-soaked hand to touch my face. Koufukude whined as the shark head, now almost touching my cheek, nuzzled me there, coming away covered in slowly congealing blood.

"...Sorry, Sukouru-Sama," I managed to slur out, feeling vaguely ill as I caught a glimpse of the dead Chunin from the corner of my eye. Logically, I knew  _eating_  someone was  _beyond_  wrong, but something was  _already_  wrong with me. Maybe it was the parts of me that were more Shark than Human now, maybe it was the sudden change in brain-chemistry The Frenzy had left behind, but, whatever it was, I wasn't nearly as disturbed by my actions as I should have been.

"Monster," I heard someone stutter out breathlessly, and I turned my head to look, absently ducking a chunk of rock as one of Sukouru-Sama's Mizu bunshin destroyed another Earth Seal. Goro the Summoner was behind his Summons, staring at me in dumb horror as he clutched a nasty wound in his leg (Apparently, while I was lost in the Haze, Sukouru-Sama had made one of the Earth Seal's explode and shrapnel had pretty much hamstrung the drunken man. Pity it missed something a little more vital.).

"You say that like it's something new," I told the Chunin simply, because, I guess in a way, he was right. The Hoshigaki Clan has never been  _normal_ , never fully  _welcomed_  by the rest of Kiri. After all, we looked and acted like sharks, and, on a chain of islands surrounded by deep, dark Sea, Sharks were always the top predator. It was like Takeo said all those months ago.

_Sharks are Killing Intent made into Physical Form._

"There is a  _reason_  every Hoshigaki Shinobi has earned themselves the title  _Monster of the Hidden Mist_ , and it was only helped by our looks," I pointed out even as Sukouru-Sama's Mizu Bunshin destroyed another seal; Renjiro was growling and snarling, sweat beading his muzzle as he remained mostly still.  _He can't move while using this Jutsu_ , I realized, then smiled grimly. "Sukouru-Sama, do you have any more Raiton you can use?" The Shark King seemed to think on it for a moment, fathomless black eye glaring coldly at our enemy, before his lips pulled back from his jagged, bloody mouth with a monstrous smile.

"Oh, I think I can manage something, Summoner," he hissed lowly, fins shifting to start his Seals.

"I'll provide the distraction, just don't hit  _me_ ," I told him firmly, leaping from his back and staggering, falling briefly to my knees in the sand with a hiss as my broken ribs and impaled shoulder  _throbbed_  in agony, spots dancing in my vision for a few moments.

"Ha, you think you can do anything?" Renjiro scoffed with a bark-like laugh as he controls his Earth Seal, sending it forward and obviously forcing more Chakra into it as it  _grew_ , tearing through two of the remaining Mizu Bunshin as I managed to stagger to my feet. "You Sharks have grown weak if such a pathetic Pup can summon  _you_ , Sukouru! How the Frenzy has fallen!"

"You're one to talk,  _Pup_ ," Sukouru-Sama scoffed, snapping his jaws with a powerful sound in derision. "Letting yourself be Summoned by  _that_  drunken imbecile? At least  _my_  Summoner got back up to fight,  _despite_  being wounded as well as being a  _Pup_! What's that say about your Crash, hmm?" Renjiro snarled, a high-pitched, feline sound.

"The Great Crash of the Summons is more powerful than ever, stupid fish!" He shouted as his Earth Seal attacked the Mizu Bunshin, destroying another. "And I, Renjiro, am second in command of the  _entire_  Crash! I am the leader of the Harem of Bull Warriors! The most sought after Mate of the most beautiful Rookery Cows! I am the most powerful Jutsu-using Seal in the  _entire_ Crash, the strongest male, and only Aruami-Sama, our Queen, is stronger!" The last Mizu Bunshin was destroyed and the Earth Seal lunged at Sukouru-Sama as lightning sparked heavily out of his mouth.

"YOU WILL NOT LOOK DOWN ON ME!"

"You talk too much," I announced as I sank Koufukude into the unconscious Goro's neck, decapitating the Summoner as Renjiro spun around, eyes wide, only to yelp as his Earth Seal collapsed, disrupted by his distraction.

" _Raiton: Kaminari no koushou_ ," Sukouru-Sama called with a dark, hissing pleasure, as he launched his attack,  _Lightning Release: Bite of Thunder_  took form with a flash. Lightning shot from his open mouth to form a wide set of shark jaws which, now that the Earth Seal was gone, had the perfect target: Renjiro.

The leopard Seal barely had time to screech in rage as the attack hit, lightning-made teeth tearing and burning into his skin as he dismissed himself, leaving only myself and Sukouru-Sama and the dead behind.

"Annoying little shit," Sukouru-Sama huffed, tail flicking in a decidedly dismissive move as he readjusted his Kage-hat, black eye glaring at me. "Come, Summoner. Let us deal with the rest of the idiots." Nodding, I obediently joined him, walking at the King Sharks side as we made our way back towards the still burning mess that had been my house.

And they  _were_  'remains', the whole building collapsed into burning wood and red-hot stone, nothing but the skeletal corpse of what had been my home, and the fifteen soon-to-be corpses clustered out front, drinking and laughing as they threw alcohol on the flames, only made it worse.

But it was not nearly as bad as seeing my Mother's corpse, mutilated and violated and left naked and sprawled in the most humiliating way, a single silver eye remaining in her mauled face, blank and glassy with death.

She was gone.

She would never brush my hair again, never show me little tricks to hurt someone without causing permanent damage. She would never make me Crepes on my birthday again, never sit beside me at Father's Shrine and drink tea and tell me about his battles. She would never huff and flare her gills in annoyance or exasperation at something Kisame did, never frown worriedly when she thought neither of us could see it. Never talk with Hekima-Sensei again, never praise me for learning a particularly difficult move, never hug me again.

She was  _gone_.

_They Had Taken Her From Me._

Koufukude's Chakra  _burned_  as it flooded my already overwhelmed body, but, before I could do anything, Sukouru-Sama's voice growled out low and deadly, colder than the deepest part of the sea and just as dark, bringing attention to us from the drunken fools. (six Chunin, three Genin, one Jounin, and five Civilians. The two Walrus Summons that had attacked Hekima-Sensei were drinking sake with the Jounin who was most likely the one to Summon them.)

" _Kuchyose no Jutsu:_ **ShokuryouKyouki** ," The Shark King announced and, in a surge of brilliant Chakra and the scent of blood and the sea, we were  _surrounded by sharks_. Summoning Jutsu: Feeding Frenzy had summoned those who were  _hungry_ , and I could only smile slowly, mouth pulled taught and tense over my fangs. " **Feed** ," Sukouru-Sama ordered and, running on startled instinct and excitement, the Frenzy descended on our enemies before they even had a chance to  _scream_ , tearing into them with relish and ripping chunks out of everything that moved that wasn't Shark. One of the Walrus's managed to Dismiss itself after losing a flipper, but its companion wasn't so lucky, falling under the fangs of a pair of Lemon Sharks and a young Scalloped Hammerhead.

The Jounin managed to kill two of Makoto's Patrol before the rest descended on him in a fury, Makoto himself landing the killing blow, cheerful visage mutated into a blank, hungry gleam of rage and blood-lust as he tore the man's head from his shoulders, goggles dripping with the blood that fountained up to spray his pale belly red.

The Genin were torn apart within seconds, Eri and her own Patrol (The 22nd Mako Patrol) shredding them in moments, like a pack of piranha. Eri was cackling the whole time, delighted and hungry as she ripped her way through the sole female Genin's intestines, carrying away what looked almost like grotesque scarf of entrails as she swam around her Patrol with ferocious glee.

The Civilians found themselves between the jaws of a hoard of younglings, under the watchful eye of Isamu the Tiger Shark, who had made sure to tear off all their arms before letting the young Pup's practice their attacks, maw bloody and eyes cold as he calmly made suggestions on which parts which Pup should attack and which parts tasted best.

Amongst the six Chunin, only two were not killed immediately. Takeo himself dragged those two towards Sukouru-Sama and I, while, behind him, the other four were ravaged by a pair of his fellow Guard Sharks, a very,  _very_  old seeming Oceanic Whitetip, and a young Great White who looked to be about two years old, wearing a black bandage around the length of it's tail.

"These two reek of Hoshigaki Sameko's blood, Sukouru-sama," Takeo informed us as he dropped the two men in front of us, and I could recognize them , the two who had  _violated_  my Mother, now missing their right arms and trying not to scream. And, just like that, The Frenzy was rising in me like a bloody wave, soaked in rage and hate and so cold I trembled with it, lips pulled inhumanly wide, mouth dropping open to breath in the heavy scent of blood and fear and baring the multiple rows of sharp, jagged teeth that were still growing in.

"We feast upon those who would harm us," Sukouru-Sama growled, his own jaws pulling wide, much to the horrified terror of the two Chunin, but it wasn't  _him_  they should have been worrying about.

The Frenzy wrapped around me, and, for the first time, I let it consume me as I fell upon the two Chunin.

A sea of blood washed me away, and I knew no more.

****/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\** **

"Where will you go now?" Makoto asked quietly as I stared at the mostly-unharmed remains of my Father's Shrine. I had woken from the Frenzy an hour after Falling, covered in blood and half-ill from eating too much, to the Healing Chakra of a female Leopard Shark named Kawa. I would scar, heavily, from the hooked Kunai and a few other wounds I'd been too lost to feel, and even the cut on my face would scar, but none of it would affect me poorly.

I was only awake and mobile thanks to Koufukude pumping Chakra through me, but, as soon as I stopped, I would no doubt collapse into a Chakra Exhaustion induced Coma (Again). But that would be later.

"Now?" I asked softly, as I stared at the Shrine, where I had carved my Mother's name onto Father's plaque. I considered the question as I leaned a bit against the Blacktip Scout, the both of us full and drowsy.

I could go to any of the Elemental Countries. All the Hidden Villages would welcome the last member of a Clan like mine, if for nothing else than the ability to say they had a new Kekkei Genkai.

Suna was a definite no, however, because it was in a  _desert_ , and although several of the Sharks were Doton-users and could easily swim through the sand, I  _loathed_  the idea of being Landlocked, it made my skin itch and my gills shiver.

Iwa was another no, they hated Kiri and all it stood for.

Kumo and Konoha were definite options, however. Both were eager for new blood, for power and prestige, but...

Kumo would see me as a weapon, a broodmare for future, completely loyal Shinobi and Kunoichi. It was what they did and while I  _was_  a Weapon (what Shinobi isn't?) I didn't want children. Not anytime soon, most likely in the far,  _far_  future. But definitely not before I made Jounin, at least.

And not before I hunted down Kisame and killed him myself.

He knew,  _he **knew**_ , that his loyalty to Kiri and his Reputation was the only thing keeping Mother and I safe. He knew that, and still he left, without warning or even  _offering_  to take us with him.  _He. **Knew**_.

I would kill him myself, feed his blood to Koufukude and feast on his flesh, take Samehada and either learn to wield it (If it liked me) or make sure the Blade  _never_  fell into Kiri's hands  _ever again_. Samehada and Koufukude were  _Hoshigaki Blades_  and Kiri had well and truly lost any hope of  _ever_  gaining even a  _drop_  of Hoshigaki Blood in it's Village.

 _You Do Not Prey On A Predator_.

So.

There was only one place I could go.

"We're going to Konoha," I told my Blacktip Partner, hefting my Emergency Bag up onto my shoulder with a grunt as the muscles spasmed, still weak and healing from being impaled. Makoto flashed me a bright grin, pupils not quite settled from the Feeding Frenzy.

"Hop on up, then, Pup!" the Scout ordered cheerfully, baring his fangs, and I did, my blood-covered body tacky and sticky and beginning to itch. "We'll travel through the Sea, get to the Mainland and then get you to your new Village quicker than you can Summon Eri!"

"If you say so," I told him mildly, fingers tightening around Koufukude's handle as the shark head hissed at me, pleased, while my borrowed Chakra spiked.

With a flick of his black-lined tail, Makoto dove through the air towards the sea, and I glanced back only once to see the charred, blacked remains of my home and the blood soaked ground in front of it.

There had been no more bodies when I'd come back to myself.

Staring at it until it disappeared, I turned my silver gaze forward as the sea came into view.

I would keep moving forward, and leave the past behind me as best as I could, outside my goals.

A Shark died if they stopped moving, after all.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NAMES:  
> Miyah - Temple (The Priestess, Silky Shark)  
> Nyoko - Precious Gem (The Princess)  
> Hoshigaki - Dried Persimmon (The Fruitful Origin)  
> Same - Shark (The Firstborn)  
> Eri - Blessed Prize (The Speedracer, Shortfin Mako Shark))  
> Renjiro - Virtuous (The Enemy, Commander Leopard Seal)  
> Goro - Fifth Son (The Other Summoner, Idiot Chunin)  
> Kawa - River (The Healer, Leopard Shark)  
> Shokuryou Kyouki - Feeding Madness, technically, but another way of saying the Kyouki part is Frenzy so (Shrugs)


	3. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last of teh prewritten chapters, may take a while to update again, sorry ahead of time, guys -_-

** **Shark Teeth** **

****.2.** **

The trip through the rough waters between  _Mizu no Kuni_  and  _Hi no Kuni_  was cold and tiring. Exhaustion was beginning to pull at my senses, but I determinedly shoved it away as best as I could. I could feel Koufukude eating my Chakra away and replacing it with his own, which he would remove as soon as I reached Konoha, forcing me into yet another temporary coma. It was the price of his assistance during the Attack, and he was being much more generous than he needed to be, but, then again, I remembered Mother's stories of Father's greater battles, of the Blade waiting until all was well to reap his reward, and knew then that the Blade  _did_  actually like me.

It was worth this price, a temporary coma and Chakra System Shock when the Chakra forcefully doubled, to have been able to avenge my Mother. It was well worth it.

"We'll be there soon, Pup," Makoto reassured me as he carried me through the water.

"The faster the better, Makoto," I told him lowly, tiredly. "Koufukude's kicking my ass back here." The Blacktip chuckled lowly as he zigzagged around a large chunk of jagged rock.

"Whoa-ho-ho, feisty now that you've had some blood, eh?" He laughed, and I grumbled and swatted him on the top of his head in annoyance. "Best hold tight, then, mighty warrior! Laaaaand  _ho_!" With another laugh, the Blacktip threw us out of the sea and, indeed there _was_  land, a rocky beach that ended in thick, massive trees. Makoto didn't slow down at all after he rotated in place three times, making me vaguely nauseous, but instead, he went skidding across the land as if he was still in the water, the almost instinctive Water Exercise all the Sharks used helping him keep moving. We slipped and slid through the trees, over the land as fast as any Chunin ran, but I knew the Scout wouldn't be able to keep it up for longer than a few hours.

Leaning my head against his dorsal in, the black markings against my newly scarred cheek, I closed my eyes with a low sigh before forcing them open again.

It was going to be a very long day.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

The Wall of Konoha was within distant sight, a barely-there gray/brown hint through the trees and over a hill, as Makoto swerved out of the surrounding forest and onto the long dirt path leading to one of the four Main Gates (The East Gate, specifically, which was less traveled by as it came from the coast). I slid from his back with a stagger, clothes crunching as the salt-encrusted fabric was forced to move.

At least I wasn't covered in blood and gore anymore, beyond the stains permanently etched into my once gray night clothes.

" _Whoa_ -ho-ho," Makoto sighed, exhausted, as he settled against the ground with a groan, eyes closing. "What a trip! You can make it the rest of the way by yourself, can't you, Pup?" He asked tiredly, and I nodded, absently using Koufukude as a crutch, the shark head grumbling about it but not doing anything else, content and sleepy.

"Go get some sleep, Makoto," I told him quietly. "And check on Hekima-Sensei, would you? Those Walrus Summons hurt her bad enough to force a Dismissal." The Blacktip Shark frowned, eyes narrowing and tail thrashing once, sharply, in displeasure.

"That's a nasty snag," He declared frowning. "I'll ask Rikona, she's Hekima's sister. She'll know what to do about those damned bottom feeders. Ugh,  _mammals_... See you later, Pup!" He told me, and Dismissed himself. Slumping a little with an exhausted sigh, I heaved myself upright and slung Koufukude over my shoulder, fixing a bored expression onto my face.

"Don't make me pass out until I get to at least talk to someone, okay, Koufukude?" I asked; the shark head hissed, sounding amused, but didn't disagree, so I grimaced and walked forward, forcing my bare feet not to drag. The walk to the East Gate seemed a lot longer than it was, the half-mile seeming to stretch on and on in my exhaustion, but I perservered. I would make it without stopping, because I knew, the moment I sat down to rest was the moment I stopped moving forward.

 _Sharks die if they stop moving_ , I reminded myself grimly, fingers tightening a bit on my Blade's hilt, and onward I went.

There were two Chunin behind a desk next to the gate, looking bored until they caught sight of me, and then they were both standing, eyes wide, as I eyed them with a purposefully bored expression.

They were both men, between twenty-five and thirty, with dark hair and eyes. One had shoulder-length hair, pale skin, and Predator-intent, black eyes, sharp and almost invasive but completely professional. The other was taller, lean and curious, with half-lidded gray eyes under spiky black hair, and bandages covering both of his hands, most likely on Gate Duty until whatever it was healed.

I came to a stop in front of them, and we stared at one another as they no doubt flared their Chakra to alert their version of ANBU (it was what the Kiri Gate Guards were trained to do when a potentially dangerous Unknown approached). I stared at them for a second, then slowly, deliberately, blinked, and lifted my free hand in a half-wave/half-salute.

"Yo," I greeted blandly, staring. "The Last Loyal member of the Hoshigaki Clan seeks Sanctuary within Konoha," I told them, and grimaced as Koufukude begin to rapidly, gleefully, re-absorb his Chakra. I swayed in place, grimacing heavily as darkness began to encroach on my vision. "Don't let any..one to..uch my b-blade... Eats... Cha...kra..." I managed to slur out as I fell forward, eyes rolling back in my head as Koufukude devoured the very last bit of his lended Chakra, leaving me with the barest amount that would let me live.

The world went black, and I knew no more.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

I woke to the sound of strange birdsong, head aching and eyes gritty, and frowned without opening my eyes. I could already tell by the smell and taste of the air that I was in a hospital, and from the lead-like feeling of my limbs and the mild cramping of my hands that Koufukude had played up again, but I couldn't remembe-

Oh.

...Nevermind. I remembered now.

Slowly, I forced my eyes open, squinting blearily up at the ceiling in silence as I just digested all that had happened before my impromptu coma.

Mother was dead. Kisame was a Traitor. I was in Konoha and I was pledging myself to it, along with any future children I had.

Letting out a slow breath, I closed my eyes again, drowsiness beginning to drag at me.

It might have been cowardly, but I didn't fight the pull of sleep.

I slipped back into darkness, and knew no more.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

The next time I woke, there was an old man staring out the window near my bed, smoking slowly from a pipe and looking thoughtful. Eyeing him, I recognized the shape of his hat, and let out a low sigh.

"Hello, Hokage-Sama," I croaked, voice hoarse as my dry throat complained, making me grimace. The Hokage turned and looked at me, kind, shrewd brown eyes peering out of a wrinkled face and, man, if there was one thing I'd learned in this life, the older a Shinobi got, the better they were at decision making, Not necessarily the stronger they got, because a Genin could survive to adulthood never rising in the ranks. But good decision making was  _hard_. A coward could live a good long while but they were stagnant and killed off as soon as possible, usually due to panicking and making a poor choice. No, old age was gained through strategic acts that meant you would  _survive_.

Surviving was a lot harder than living some days, especially for Shinobi.

"Ah, hello, Hoshigaki-chan," he greeted back with a small smile, knocking the ember gently from his pipe and sliding it away. "I'm glad to see you're awake and well. It's been nearly a week since you collapsed at our gates, after all, and from sever Chakra Exhaustion at that, according to my Medics." I nodded and carefully forced my newborn-weak limbs to work, grimacing as my trembling and cramping muscles jerkily shoved me upright so I could sit up a bit against the head of the bed.

"Did anyone touch my sword?" I asked him warily. "I tried to warn the Gate Guards that it ate Chakra, so they'd know..." The Hokage nodded as he wandered over and took a seat in the small chair at my bedside.

"They informed the ANBU who responded to their signals about the warning. Your Blade has been temporarily confiscated to our T&I Building, and no one will be attempting to touch it without risking themselves, which they've been warned not to do." Nodding, I leaned my head back and let out a low, slow breath. I didn't like Koufukude being out of my reach _and_  my sight, but it was an understandable action. I was an Unknown, after all, and despite being a child, I was at the hospital for  _Chakra Exhaustion_  and, if any Hidden Village knew about Child Shinobi, it was Konoha.

"I, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure," the old man started, making me open my eyes to stare at his calm smile, "hereby grants the Hoshigaki Clan Sanctuary, provided it's members pass through our interrogation as well as provide proof of profit for the Village." Staring silently, I let out another slow breath and felt relief loosen the tension in my shoulders.

"The Head of the Hoshigaki Clan agrees," I told him hoarsely, and the Hokage nodded regally, offering me a kind smile.

"My Medic's inform me that you will be able to leave Bed-rest in a week, unless further complications arrive," he told me calmly. "At that time you will be introduced to one of our Lead Interrogators, and will be required to answer multiple questions and undergo a Mind-Walk from a member of our Yamanaka Clan. Upon passing or failing these tests, your fate will be decided." I nodded at him firmly.

"Until then, Hokage-Sama," I agreed quietly; he hummed and rose, beginning to leave.

"Until then, Hoshigaki-chan."

And that was that.

Already I could tell that Konoha was vastly different from Kiri, and I hoped that the Culture Shock wouldn't be too jarring.

Ah well, I had a week to prepare myself.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

Scowling faintly as I walk down the crowded street of Konoha, following the broad-shouldered form of the Interrogator who introduced himself as Morino Ibiki, I had to consciously remind myself to stop clenching my sword-hand. But, really, under all the stares and pointing and whispers of so many  _civilians_ , without Koufukude or a Summons at my side, I felt  _naked_. And, under Medic-orders not to use any Chakra for another three days so my System could re-calibrate the new amount I had, it made that vulnerability skyrocket, and a vulnerable Hoshigaki is a  _grumpy_  Hoshigaki.

"Walk faster, brat," Morino ordered without glancing over his shoulder, and I narrowed my eyes at him in annoyance.

"Slow down,  _behemoth_ ," I retorted tartly. "Or have you forgotten that the Medics forbid me from using Chakra, hmm? So I can't move faster without running after you, something  _else_  they forbade me from doing?" Arching a brow at the utterly deadpan stare he granted me over one of his shoulders, I crossed my arms behind my head and stared at him boredly. "You're either going to have to slow down or pick me up, or just deal with me trotting about at your back, Mister." Morino stops in his tracks, and I continue forward until I  _finally_  come to his side, where I stop and stare blandly up at his cold, blank face.

 _Hoshigaki are unrepentant and untamed._  My Mother's voice whispers to me. _We do what we want, go where we want, and only follow orders of those who have proved themselves capable of leading. We are Sharks, the Sea, the Wind and Wild. We are Monsters and Mayhem and we_   _ARE._

Staring up at this massive, scarred Jounin, I don't flinch from his gaze, and he has yet to even twitch under my own (Kiri Jounin had gotten twitchy under the flat, assessing stare of my Clan, the stare that says  _You Ca Be Food If I Want You To Be_. Even  _I_  have managed to make them paranoid, and the fact this Jounin who is battle scarred and fierce doesn't so much as  _blink_ , is both reassuring and utterly  _galling_  at the moment).

Morino finally lets out a low breath, almost a huff, and reaches down to grab me by the back of the shirt, lifting me into the air and holding me like one holds a kitten by the scruff. Unamused and uncaring, I lower my folded arms to cross over my chest, and cross my legs as well, hanging there with a blank expression as I pointedly meet whatever Civilian or Shinobi's gaze that I catch staring. Very few stare back, and those that do are Jounin or Tokubetsu Jounin at best (the three Chunin I catch look away after a few moments, shoulders tense and mouths slanted, uncomfortable, and satisfaction coils in my chest because, weaponless and helpless as I seem, they still see me as  _threat_  on some level, and that is what they  _should_  see.)

My teeth ache to  _bite_ , but I ignore it.

I am more than my instincts.

"Stubborn brat," Morino told me coldly.

"Scarfaced Behemoth," I countered without hesitation, smirking as I glanced up at him. "Bet your  _real_  popular with the ladies. Just a bright little Angel Fish, aren't you?" His utterly unamused stare made me smirk even more. "Bet you have to beat 'em off with a stick, huh? All but molested in the street, stripped naked and bare by their eyes, you poor thing." I nearby Jounin chokes on what was probably a laugh, and Morino's face somehow becomes even  _more_  unamused, nearly deadpan but not quite. I sucked in my cheeks and made a fishy kiss-face at him mockingly. "Don't you worry, Angel Fish, I'll defend your virtue!" I announced, baring my teeth and clicking them sharply, the same, mocking jaw-snap Kisame used to make at the weaker Kiri-Nin who tried to boast around him.

"Brat," he growled, before promptly dropping me, making me grunt as I landed hard on my knees, but I was still smirking.

"Ooh, did I hit a sore spot?" I mocked, but he was stepping away, opening a door and gesturing me in, and I stood leisurely, pointedly dusting off the plain dark blue pants I'd brought in my Emergency pack, before strolling past the massive man and into the building beyond.

As soon as my feet crossed the threshold, however, the world went black.

Maybe I shouldn't have teased him so much...

 _Nah_.

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

_The world is a mash of bright colors and swirling images, blues and reds and silver-whites mashing and twisting in flashes of jarring light._

_Mother's exhausted, smirking face is staring down at me. Kisame's disgusted, **young**  face right beside her, his thirteen-year-old self still dull and pudgy with a little bit of baby fat, not yet the sharp, angular handsome he'd grow into but with the edge of  **prospect**  clearly visible now that I see it._

_"Hoshigaki Sameha... About damn time you came out."_

_It's so good to hear her voice again..._

_"If you wanted to die so bad, I would have tossed you into a Frenzy myself and saved us all the trouble!" Kisame, snarling and furious and worried Kisame, before the World and Kiri twisted him, half-mad with that overprotective Panic he'd always tried to hide, but, I could see it now, the stark, knife-edge of gleeful pride and too-bright panic that I'd done something without permission, stepped away from the pack._

_I miss you, Niisan..._

_"DIE!" a man shouts; pain in my hand, sudden movement, Blood and guts spilling into the air, hot then cold, so cold, gurgling breath and then..._

_My first kill._

_"Again!" I snap, bloody and bruised and hurt, training sword locked in my tiny hand. Kisame sneers and attacks again._

_"You're doing well, Pup," Hekima-Sensei announces as I stagger on the water,five-year-old body aching with the strain of the two large rocks I'm being forced to hold straight out from myself, held in place by Chakra as I walk through the weak whirlpool the Nurse Shark made. "Soon you'll be able to do the next level of Exercises._

_Did you survive the Attack, Sensei?_

_Kisame killed his teacher, the Traitor, and gained our Grandfather's blade, Samehada. He hasn't been home in weeks, cold and sharp and so very **angry**. At the world, at Mother, at himself._

_**I Miss You Niisan...** _

_" Sameton: Chi ni za Mizu," Takeo says, and the world goes  **red**._

_The taste of the meat Mother gets me is delicious and almost-sweet, and my Brother is there, silver eyes sharp and fascinated and that same gleefully proud as the hospital. It makes the meat sweeter, makes me want to work harder._

_It's the middle of the night, and I woke up to Kisame's hand on my head and a blank expression on his face, dressed in his Mission Clothes and still blood spattered._

_"I'm proud of you, Guppy," he told me, and then he was gone._

_The next time I saw him was the day before he turned Traitor and left, and all he did was stand at a distance and watch me train with Takeo._

_The roof was burning and Mother was screaming..._

_"RUN SAMEHA!"_

_Blood and fear and **hate**._

_"Little Shark Whore," jeered the enemy, enemy ENEMY_

_Mother is screaming._

_Sukouru-Sama tears the Jounin to shreds, his scream high-pitched and sudden, like a rabbit's, the kunai through my shoulder and Moth **er is ScreamING MAKE THEM STOP KILL THEM KILL THEM KILL THEM KILL THEM** -_

_The world is red and flesh in my mouth and another dies at Koufukude's bite_

_**Bite** _

_**BitE** _

_**BITE** _

_**"...Mother..."** _

_The house is burned and Mother is dead and the world is **RED**_

_They're all dead and my belly is full to bursting and I'm covered in the blood of the ones we had lived and worked with since the Founding of Kiri and..._

_I'm so tired..._

_So tired..._

_Another named carved on a plaque in the backyard of a skeleton house that used to be a home._

_"Where will you go now?" Makoto, fierce, happy, sincere Makoto, dear friend and partner, voice soft and solemn and pupils still blown from the Fight._

_Options and ideas, a mental map, consideration, and I choose the path I walk, Koufukude in hand and Kisame's Grave in my future (He Left us He Left Us Niisan I love YOu HATE You Why WHy WHY you knew this woulD HAPPEN)_

_"-Konoha-"_

_Sunlight on Salt Water, blood washing away, flying through the sea on Makoto's back, then through trees._

_Konoha's gates, exhaustion in my **bones** , Koufukude eager for his prize._

_"-Sanctuary-"_

_Emptiness and darkness and All Alone Now..._

_The world is Blue stained Red with silver eyes and black shark teeth spread wide to devour and Mother's Scream and Kisame's Gone And-_

I wake up.

There are tear tracts on my face, I can taste the salt through my gills, and a high-pitched, keening sound in my throat that hurts my ears, and I can't get my breathing right, Hekima-Sensei's meditations useless.

There's a hand on my head and my body can't move and the hand is gone and through the blur of tears I see pale blue eyes and silver-blond hair and a solemn faced man with a Konoha headband and a Jounin Vest.

"Sameha, can you hear me?" he asked, voice warped like sound through water, but I can hear him so I nod, choking on spit and air and I'm  _sobbing_. "You're in emotion shock right not, Sameha. The Mind Walk brought forth all the emotions you've been suppressing this whole time. You're going to be okay, but at the moment it's out of your control." I snarl at him, a bite of rage flashing lightning-quick through me and snap my teeth forward, clamping on nothing but air as he moves back, and there's no anger or blame just solemn understanding and  _ **I Hate Him**._

"My name is Yamanaka Inoichi," he continued calmly as the rage twisted into grief and all I could do was sob and keen and miss my  _Home_. "I am going to be in charge of your check-ups and therapy during your time here in Konoha. You will be going under a six month watch for now. Twice a week for the first three months you will be seeing me as a therapist. If your mental state calms quickly, however, those meetings will become once a week, to once every other week. If your mind has repaired itself sufficiently during those three months, our meetings will become once every three months, and then once every six months, baring mission-related issues. Do you understand, Sameha?" He asked; I snarled through a keen at him.

" _Fuck you, you Moray Eel of a bastard_..." Those damned pale blue eyes blink slightly, flickering as if reading something and this  _asshole is still in my head_. "Get. OUT!" I snarl snapping my teeth and desperately pulling up the familiar Red Haze to protect myself, catching the Eel's flinch and grimace as he backs up again and, viciously, furiously pleased, I let the tide of red swallow my vision, body thrashing with snarls and hisses before going still, Predator-tense as I track every hint of movement as I watch  _Inoichi_  eye me, my pitch-black eyes gleaming in the reflection of his blue, and the man sighs out of his nose.

"I will leave you to decompress, Sameha," he informed me calmly. "I must report my findings to the Hokage." I hiss at him as he goes, snapping my jaws, feeling the two rows of teeth click together violently as I  _hunger_  for his stupid, sweet flesh.

And then, I'm alone, trapped and lost in the Haze, Hungry and furious with Mother's screams egging me on and the desperate,  _desperate_  need to  _not break apart_.

I am more than my instincts.

I am more than my memories.

I am more than my emotions.

I am  _more_.

(So why did I feel so very, very much  _less_?)

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

"Was that supposed to happen?" Hiruzen asked the Yamanaka as he left the child in the observation room, held in place by Chakra Binds, snarling and sobbing and snapping her teeth still, silver eyes swallowed completely by black pupils, looking less human than was comfortable. Inoichi ran a hand over his head with a sigh as the Hokage continued to observe the feral-seeming child.

"Unfortunately, yes," he replied, shaking his head a bit. "She has had a hard life in Kiri, and, coupled with the instincts of her Bloodline and the actions of her Summons, this is actually the  _best_  outcome we could have hoped for." Hiruzen made an interested sound, Ibiki standing at his side and Nara Shikaku leaning against the wall behind them, sharp eyes assessing and calculating everything that happened.

"She was born and raised in a Bloodline during the beginning of the Civil War in Kiri," the Yamanaka Head began. "Her father was killed in an ambush that no one seems to no the culprits behind. Her brother, Kisame of the Seven Swordsmen, is already almost S-Rank and has only recently turned Traitor, but, from her memories, he has sociopathic and psychopathic tendencies that are exasperated by their Bloodline, as well as an almost possessive/obsessive inclination towards Sameha herself and her rate of growth in power. Her mother, Sameko, was a Jounin who was hard done by due to her Gender and Bloodline, a capable Kunoichi who Sameha saw raped, tortured, and murdered the very same day she showed up at the gate..." He hesitated, then sighed, looking grim.

"Sameha herself is almost sociopathic as well, due to her Bloodline and outside actions. That blade of hers is Koufukude no Ken, the famous Famished Blade of Kiri." Hiruzen's brows raised in surprise and even Ibiki sent the child beyond their window a sharp, assessing look. The Famished Blade's reputation was well-known, after all, and that it was so easily wielded by a  _child..._  "She first touched it at three years old. It nearly killed her, and, the sudden growth of her Chakra thanks to it almost killed her again. She's been excessively training in Chakra Control Exercises and Summoning since then, as their Summons, the Great Sharks, are responsible for the Hoshigaki Clan being as they are. Which leads to the Outside Influences on her brain chemistry..."

"Her brain chemistry?" Shikaku asked; Inoichi nodded.

"After her brother distanced himself from their family, Sameha sought out a high-level Warrior of the Sharks to train her in kenjutsu so she could properly wield Koufukude, which actually belonged to her Father and Grandfather before her. The Shark, a Bull Shark named Takeo, used a mind-altering Genjutsu on her that literally transformed certain parts of her brain chemistry to more closely resemble a sharks. It's often referred to as 'The Haze' or 'The Frenzy' in her memories, a Berzerker like mindset that leaves those unable to control themselves as little more than ravenous beasts..." He glanced in at the now still and silently focused child.

"That's what sh's using right now," Shikaku deduced calmly. "She's using it to protect herself from the emotional onslaught the Mind Walk unleashed." Inoichi nodded grimly.

"Like I said, the Hoshigaki Bloodline creates borderline Sociopaths," he said, staring at the silent girl. "Forced to not only acknowledge but to feel all those emotions fully and at once overwhelmed her body. Luckily she's very adaptable thanks to the chemical shifts her brains undergone, as well as her age itself making those emotions less tangible then they would be for an adult. Once she's settled back under control and is able to function again, she'll need to eat... Which is actually my only true concern, as she poses no threat to Konoha and is otherwise completely genuine in her request of Sanctuary, even if it's more to spite Kiri than join Konoha..."

"Your concerns, Inoichi," Hiruzen stated, brown eyes sharp and a grim, solemn edge around his eyes and mouth.

"Cannibalism," the blond stated bluntly. "The shark-mindset has... Mutated, certain areas of her psyche. The attack on her home was staged by a  _force_ , Hokage-Sama. Two relatively high-level Jounin, one with a strong Summoning Contract to the Walrus. Fifteen Chunin, one of which had a strong Contract with Leopard Seals. A team of Genin, and five Civilians..." He grimaced. "Sameha used Koufukude to Summon the King of Sharks, and then he Summoned a large number of his fellow Summons. Not before Sameha herself killed six Chunin, including the two who did the most damage to her Mother, and... She  _ate_  one of them, after giving into the Haze on accident, and then did the same to the two who violated her mother, only that was a  _much_  more conscious choice of action. The rest were all killed and eaten by her Summons."

"Kiri's not going to be happy with that," Ibiki muttered as Shikaku let out a low whistle, impressed.

"Troublesome little fish we've got here," the Nara murmured, cocking his head to the side in consideration.

"She's self-aware enough to know that eating people isn't  _right_ ," Inoichi continued. "She also knows that her level of detachment towards eating people isn't normal as well, and has accurately deduced it's cause to be a mix of Bloodline and the Sameton Jutsu used on her. But that's the extent of her self-awareness on the issue. She has no problem taking a bite out of people, and has no issues with killing and/or eating someone who attacks her. She understands why she can't just kill  _anyone_  or eat  _anyone_  and she understands that she'll be watched closely just in case, but the disconnect is mildly concerning. People shouldn't have a Food category but, for her, they do."

"Is she dangerous to residents of Konoha," Ibiki asked/demanded; Inoichi paused, considering.

"...No," he decided after a moment, words weighed and thoughtful. "It is a matter of pride, that she can control her instincts and urges. Something her Summons-teachers and Mother insisted on was Control of Self. A frequent mantra she seems to have is  _I am more than my instincts_ , and viewing morals and ethics in a form of Predator Vs Prey mentalities. Shinobi are Predators. You respect a Predator or it will kill you. Civilians are Prey, without them Predators die or turn on one another. Too many of either is bad, both are needed. Things like that."

"She clears the Interrogation, then," Shikaku said bored; Inoichi nodded.

"As you heard, she has twice-weekly therapy sessions with me, but, after the six month waiting period, she'll be good to enter the Academy, baring any mental instabilities or 'accidents' between then and now."

"Hokage-Sama?" Shikaku prompted; Hiruzen continued to stare at the young girl, chewing on his unlit pipe thoughtfully, before inclining his head.

"Inform the Council that the Hoshigaki Clan will be joining Konoha within the next few months, and that they're bringing the Famished Blade and their Bloodline as Profit," he stated calmly. "Inoichi, tell Hoshigaki-chan that her sword will be returned to her fully in three months time, with continued cooperation only, and that until then, she will be granted short, supervised visits with the Blade in order to keep the bond firm. The last thing I want is a sentient Blade killing my Shinobi because it wanted to see it's Wielder."

"Hai, Hokage-Sama," he stated.

"Ibiki-kun, please provide Hoshigaki-chan with something to eat," the Hokage continued blandly.

"Alive or dead?" the scarred man asked without pause; Hiruzen considered.

"Steak would do for now," he said calmly. "If, however, her...  _Cravings_ , begin to rise, Inoichi, I expect we have a few criminals and captives who wouldn't mind...  _Donating_ , correct?"

"Hai, Hokage-Sama," Inoichi and Ibiki both agreed without a blink. T&I wasn't for the squeamish, after all, and both knew even the threat of being eaten alive would likely have more obstinate captives answering their inquiries.

"What a drag," Shikaku muttered with a grimace as he and the Hokage made their leave. Inoichi moved to begin filling in the file paperwork for the Mind Walk on Hoshigaki Sameha, while Ibiki stalked away towards the kitchens.

Within the room, Sameha continued to lay still and silent, silver eyes hazed with bloodlust and hunger, and wait for her prey to come to her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rikona - Intelligence (Hekima's Sister, Nurse Shark)
> 
> Inoichi the Moray Eel - Moray Eels are brightly colored creatures who live in caves. They specialize in hunting prey by lunging out of nowhere, grabbing it, and tearing it apart until they're done. Inoichi, the entire Yamanaka Clan, specializes in tearing apart minds, sliding in out of nowhere and ripping you apart from the inside. I thought it would be apt


	4. 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you guys go~!

**Shark Teeth**

 

**.3.**

 

I waited silently as the butcher sliced and wrapped the cuts of meat I asked for, ignoring the way the woman behind me was making _no_ attempt at being subtle about leaning well away from me. The butcher himself still eyed me suspiciously despite the fact that I'd come here twice a week for the last month. I'd probably have been by even more often, but the small amount of funding I was receiving while on probation was barely enough to cover the tiny studio _as well as_ food, toiletries, and exactly _two_ sets of clothes. It would be raised once these first three months were cleared, but until then, I made sure to only shop at Sato-san's the days I had to see the Moray.

Each visit had left me feeling like my skin was too tight, my chest hollow but heavy, and I'd tear through a majority of the meat I bought. It was comforting, the rending and tearing, the blood and fullness left behind. The Moray says I need to restrict The Frenzy, that it shouldn't be my go-to comfort, but I asked him what, exactly, he expected me to do? I'd yet to get a suggestion that I liked, since I wasn't allowed to train with my Summons or Koufukude.

This last session had been.. Mild, in comparison to the last few weeks. It had mostly been about how I was adapting to the culture shock of going from an Autocratic Dictatorship to a Democratic Oligarchy. And, honestly? It _was_ a culture shock. Everything about Konoha was _green_. Green and fresh and warm. The humidity was high, the streets bright and filled with people and colors. The civilians greeted the Shinobi as if they _weren't_ a military power and just _people_. Tensions between the two sets wasn't high, wasn't filled with fear and wariness and bitter, bitter _hate_ , but with camaraderie, laughter, even _affection_.

It was overwhelming, at times, living here.

But, then again, some things were _exactly_ like Kiri, I mused as I took my purchase and left. A man who had just been about to enter flinched away from me and hurried off. As I walked down the street, Civilians and Shinobi alike eyed me suspiciously. A mild smile curled my lips; a woman flinched and ushered her toddler away.

Yeah, some things were _exactly_ the same.

 

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

 

A sharp pain erupted in my left butt-cheek, making me yelp and promptly lose my footing on the reeds and fell into the pond. Grimacing, I poked the top of my head out of the murky brown _fresh_ water to eye my Tutor unhappily.

“You must always be aware of your surroundings, Pup,” Hekima-Sensei informed me blandly from where she was sipping tea, the tendril of water she'd used as a whip returning to her side. The Nurse Shark had survived her run-in with the Walrus Summons, but she was now heavily scarred and missing several chunks of flesh, her grey-green body covered in dips and gouges colored milky-yellow and bruise-purple. It had actually gained her a raise in status, as most scars of such nature did (as well as the fact that, when a young Bull Shark had tried to kill her for being a 'useless cripple' while she was still recovering, the Nurse Shark had torn him to shreds and eaten him to help herself heal faster. Such actions were seen as the height of controlled strength in several Frenzies, including the Bull Sharks).

Seeing her had been a huge relief, if I was honest, but also a brittle, painful reminder. Especially now, as she taught me while sitting to the side, drinking tea, like she would so often do with my mother...

I grimaced and shook the thought away. If I wanted to dwell on the past, I could wait until tomorrow, when I would see the Moray. For now, I pulled myself out of the pond, covered in mud and algae and _freshwater_. Ugh, it was so _gross_. I mean, I could still breath in it, and it did in a pinch when my skin felt too tight and I got antsy from being virtually Landlocked, but I longed for saltwater and currents and the constant _living_ movements of the sea...

“Sorry, Hekima-Sensei,” I said, shaking a clump of clay-like mud from my bare foot. “I'll focus better.”

“See that you do,” she told me mildly; nodding, I jumped carefully back up onto the reeds that were waiting. Reed Walking was a Chakra Control Exercise that I had heard of from the Sharks but hadn't had a chance to learn in Kiri. The reeds there had been brittle and cracked from the damage of the salt in the air, frail things that would shatter when Chakra was put into them. The pond reeds of Training Ground 17, however, were sturdy things that grew six-feet high and were strong enough that my Chakra, heavy and massive as it was, had only managed to crack the first few when I'd started, instead of completely shatter them.

Reed Walking was the act of controlling your Chakra Output through the reeds so that they didn't bend or crack, providing Shinobi with a way to run or move around muddy and wet areas without leaving a difinitive trail. It was seen best in Villages like Kusa (Grass) and Ame (Rain), were rain and some swampland was plentiful. The problem, however, was that reeds, as I said before, were usually very fragile. Too much Chakra, you shattered or cracked them. Too little, and they bend until they broke. It also require phenominal balance, as each reed was only about a quarter-to-half-inch wide.

This was the fifth time I'd been sent into the pond, although only the first that Hekima-Sensei had been the cause.

“Continue,” the Nurse Shark told me; I nodded, the bottoms of my feet aching despite my naturally thicker skin.

“Hai, Hekima-Sensei,” I agreed, and obeyed.

 

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

 

My skin was too tight, to taut, emotions that I didn't _want_ crawling through me and making me feel like I was going to _burst_.

 _Damn_ the Moray, _damn him_!

“ _Do you hate your mother for not being strong enough to fight back? To survive? For abandoning you just like your brother?”_

Damn him, damn him, _Damn_ _ **Him**_!

_Just Like Your Brother?_

_Blood and almost-sweet meat filling my mouth-_

“ _RUN SAMEHA!”_

“—HEY!”A voice shouted practically in my damn _ear_ , snapping me out of my memories and the beginning red haze of The Frenzy. I reacted immediately, twisting away and snapping my teeth dangerously and just millimeters away from the face of what I could now see was a boy who was about my age. He had bright blue eyes and bright, gold-blonde hair and whisker-like marks on his cheeks, skin tan and dirty.

“ _What_?!” I hissed at him through clenched fangs; he huffed at me, surprise turning to annoyance as he puffed is cheeks up and squinted his eyes closed.

“I was _talkin'_ to you!” He snapped back; I scowled. I was _not_ in the mood for this minnow, ugh.

“So _talk_ ,” I snapped; he scowled harder.

“I _said_ ,” he huffed. “I've never _seen_ you before! Why're you _blue_? And my _name_ is Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo! I'm gonna be the next Hokage!” His blue eyes opened again to glare at me, and I glared back, scowling. This little minnow thought he had _teeth_? Well, I'd show him _teeth_!

“Yes, I'm new,” I growled at him, pulling my lips inhumanly far from my teeth in the macabre grin of a shark. “I'm blue because it's a Clan Trait. I don't care who you are or what you'll become or _whatever_. My name is Hoshigaki Sameha. Now _go away_.” He was staring at my teeth, wide-eyed, and all I could think was _good. Be afraid. Leave me alone so that I can go home and **eat** and get the Moray's voice **out of my head** and—_

“That's _so cool_!” The boy yelped, making me freeze, brain screeching to a halt in stunned confusion. Just.

What?

“What?” I asked, mouth falling into a more natural frown. The minnow, Uzumaki, flailed his hands, blue eyes sparkling.

“You're _teeth_!” He shouted, leaning in closer. “They're so _cool!_ Hey, hey, are they _all_ sharp like that?!” Befuddled, I just stared at him, leaning away a little. No one had ever reacted like _that_ before.

“Erm, yes?” I told him uncertainly. “Um, both rows of them are, and, once I get older, the third and final row will be...” He seemed to light up, grinning gleefully, and I honestly had no idea how to deal with this?

“Can I _see_ them?!” He asked, bouncing in place and looking hopeful; I hesitated, thrown through a loop. I was _not_ made for emotional roller-coasters, okay? I just _wasn't_ , surprises were _not_ my _thing_ and _how_ was I supposed to deal with this? Was, was this a _normal_ reaction for boys my age? I'd never met any, not _human_ boys, at least, and Sharks reacted _normally_ to things... Well, what _I_ considered normal...

Maybe I was too sheltered from humans...

“Sure?” I offered, shifting from foot to foot, before letting my jaw drop inhumanly wide, lips automatically pulling back to expose gum, the same way a Great White's mouth opened.

Hoshigaki grew based on Sharks. Some grew large and broad like Niisan and the Bullsharks. Some grew tall and willowy like Mother and Blacktips. I was told Father had been short and quick like a Mako, and Grandmother had been broad and stout like a Nurse Shark. My own characteristics were proving similar to a Great White's, from what I could tell, but Hekima-Sensei said that it may change when I hit puberty—

“That's _awesome_ , dattebayo!” Uzumaki crowd, yanking my thoughts back to the present, and then throwing me off kilter even further, by sticking his _hand_ in my _mouth_.

The Frenzy _roared_ into the forefront, and I barely manged to stop from _biting off his stupid hand_.

My jaw clenched as I locked it in place, mouth closed _just enough_ that my upper teeth brushed the back of his hand, going rigid and tight as a spring. My skin had gone taut with a familiar _hunger_ , gills flaring and eyes no-doubt turned pitch-black as my instincts and my mind fought for control.

Damn it, I am  _ **more**_ than my _**Instincts**_!

“Sameha?” Uzumaki asked, _not_ taking his hand out of my mouth. Movement from the corner of my eye registered to the Haze, and I barely stopped from snapping my fangs and tearing away with a prize to devour. The black-clad form of one of my ANBU watchers crouched beside the two of us, their mask that of a lizard of some sort.

“Uzumaki,” they intoned, voice modulated by something on the mask so that it was monotonous and without gender. “Remove your hand from Hoshigaki's mouth, please.” Uzumaki did so, confused, and looking at me with concern. At _Me_! As if _I_ was the one who almost _lost their damn_ _ **hand**_! This boy, seriously.

“Neh, neh, if he gonna be okay?!” He asked loudly, staring at me with wide blue eyes, and I twitched when the ANBU set a hand on my shoulder, snapping my teeth with a strained hiss. I didn't even care that Uzumaki had called me male, it was a common occurrence with Hoshigaki's. We were androgynous _at best_. You couldn't tell a shark's gender at first glance, after all, and it was too much stress to constantly have to correct people, so most Hoshigaki were mildly genderfluid...

Distracting myself with these facts wasn't helping, and I trembled with tension, keeping my eyes wide and unblinking so I wouldn't get surprised by sudden movement and react without thinking.

“Hoshigaki is training a Clan Trait,” the ANBU informed Uzumaki calmly. “It would be best, in the future, to keep anything you're not afraid to lose out of their mouth, Uzumaki.” To prove the point, I snapped my teeth, instinctively doing so multiple times before I managed to control the urge, locking my fangs together tightly with a shiver.

“Oh...” Uzumaki replied, blinking. “So, he'll get better?” ANBU inclined his head.

“I will take them to a safe place so they may... Relax,” they told the blond boy, who nodded firmly.

“Okay, then,” he agreed, frowning. “Get better soon, Sameha!” He told me; I managed a short, tight nod, before the hand on my shoulder tightened slightly in warning and the world blurred. When I blinked, we were inside what I recognized as the hallway outside the Moray's office, making me grimace tightly.

“Stay here,” the ANBU ordered; I nodded tightly, and they left me, entering the Moray's den. I shuffled away from the door to lean against the wall, gills flaring as I breathed slowly. Red was still stalking the edges of my vision, and that familiar _hunger_ was still lurking in my throat, but I no longer felt the immediate urge to rend and tear flesh and bone, to taste the sweet-flavored meat of a living person...

Taking a deep breath, I tried to concentrate. The door to the Moray's office opened, and he came out, no ANBU in sight.

“Gecko told me what happened,” he informed me; I nodded carefully. “Will you be satisfied with the meat in your fridge or do you need something more?” I shuddered and grit my teeth, closing my eyes and considering.

With the emotional roller-coaster I'd been on in the last few hours, the idea of dead-meat was severely disappointing.

“More,” I hoarsely hissed; the Moray nodded, stepping forward and placing a deliberate hand on my shoulder, making my lips pull back and my gills flare aggressively.

“Arrangements have been made,” he told me calmly; the world blurred and twisted again, and then we were in front of a building I'd never seen before. Stiffly, I followed the Moray as he walked into the building, ignoring the bored-looking Chunin at the desk just beyond the door. As we walked, I struggled to focus, but the _air_ of this building... It was _alive_.

It tasted like blood and fear and hate and pain. It tasted like _food_ and like _Predator_ and _Prey_.

The Haze grew strong, world tinting red, and I got twitchier and twitchier the longer we walked. I tried to breath through my mouth as shallowly as possible, teeth unclenched and jaw hanging a little, lips pulling slowly back the further we walked. We passed a pair of Chunin escorting another one, bound tightly with Chakra-Suppressing seals, and a heavily bleeding broken nose. I swayed towards him unconsciously, hunger tightening my face again, and the Moray caught a grip on the scruff of my neck, pulling me firmly back.

“What the fuck?” The captured Chunin hissed, blanched and horrified, and I watched him over my shoulder as we continued on, gills shivering as I breathed in the scent of his hot, fresh blood.

“Don't mind her, little Spy!” One of the Chunin holding him chortled cheerfully, smiling. “It's just feeding time. Someone must have been obstinate, so she gets to eat her fill today. Hey, hey, Jiro, you think she'll leave the hands this time? I've gotta bet with Anko...” The other snorted, and replied, but they were out of my range, and I realized where I was.

T&I. Torture and Interrogation. Home of—

“Inoichi,” a familiar, deep voice greeted; my mouth stretch, inhumanly wide, in amusement.

“Angel Fish~!” I crooned swaying around the Moray and stalking slowly towards the large, scarred Jounin. My movement was almost a sashay, but more closely resembled the slow, ominous swim of a Great White, almost ponderous, and completely inhuman compared to these others more mammalian steps. My muscles coiled and relaxed, my bones felt liquid and flexible, and Angel Fish eyed me sharply, before turning and stalking towards a door.

My, my, so brave, to turn his back on a Predator...

I hissed lowly, hungrily, moving after him, steps gliding and mostly silent. The room he lead me into smelled like anger and fear and bloody, bruised flesh. There was a man, chained to a chair, naked and bruised and defiant.

“Back for more, sweetheart?” The man sneered; a low, hungry sound tore from my throat. Angel Fish gestured at the man, ignoring him as he stared at me with cold, dark eyes.

“We'll get all we need from this ones partner,” he informed me calmly, nodding towards the dark, mirrored glass across the room. “He'll be watching, as well, so that he knows what awaits him if he doesn't cooperate.” The Frenzy roared and I crooned at him.

“I get _two_?” I asked eagerly; a thick drop of drool slid down my exposed gums and clung to my tautly-pulled lips.

“If he doesn't cooperate,” he reiterated. “We took the liberty of removing this ones clothes so you wouldn't have to tear through them.” I hummed throatily, the Haze growing stronger, the room gleaming blood-bright in my vision, and my Prey almost gleaming, the smell of fear and blood under his skin making the air around him almost _shimmer_.

“I'd have eaten it anyways,” I breathed; Angel Fish hummed and walked past me. He didn't say anything more, and the door clicked with finality.

“What are _you_ going to do to me, pipsqueak?” The Prey sneered; the air around him grew thicker with fear and apprehension, almost gold-colored in the red of the haze. I stepped towards him slowly, mouth falling open with a low, hungry sound.

I fell into The Frenzy, and let the tide of blood sweep me away.

 

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

 

Sleepy, sated, and clean thanks to T&I showers, I opened my apartment door with a low hum...

Only to stop and blink slowly.

“What are you doing here, Uzumaki?” I asked mildly, too sated to work up any annoyance; the blond-haired boy leaped to his feet from where he was sitting at my tiny table, blue eyes anxious and defiant as his cheeks puffed up defensively.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay!” He declared, scowling at me, before jerking his head to the table. “I even brought you Ramen! It's the food of Kami, and it'll make anyone feel better!” I blinked slowly, and, indeed, there were two large take-out cartons of steaming food. With so much meat in my stomach and the Haze far from my thoughts, food was the last thing on my mind.

But...

But he had taken the effort of getting me food, finding where I lived, and breaking into my crappy apartment to wait in the dark for me to come back. It was the most care someone had shown me since Kiri.

“What kind of ramen?” I asked as I closed the door behind me; Uzumaki grinned brightly.

“Fish Ramen!” He declared mischievously; I snorted, immediately amused, because _of course_.

“You ass,” I told him, smirking, but it didn't stop me from joining him at the table, and snatching up one of the cartons. “Thanks anyways, Discus,” I told him; his cheeks puffed up as he squinted at me suspiciously.

“What's a Discus?” He demanded; I hummed, chewing on a bite of clam. Fuck but I missed seafood...

“It's a bright colored fish,” I told him easily. “They come in a lot of different colors, but orange and yellow are the brightest. Like your hair,” I told him mildly, using my hashi to point at him, a piece of salmon in their grip, which I then popped right into my mouth with a hum. His expression went sort of... round. His big, blue eyes went wide, his cheeks relaxed, his mouth softened into an 'o'.

“...So... So it's, it's like, a nickname?” he asked me softly, uncertainly; I blinked at him, before humming softly.

“Yes,” I told him; he blinked several times, blue eyes shiny, before they squinted shut and he grinned wide and just a little wild.

“That's awesome, Sameha!” He chirped, fingers tight on his own carton of ramen, trembling faintly. “Thanks!” I blinked, before smirking at him.

“Yeah, yeah, Discus,” I huffed, chuckling as I went back to eating, savoring the familiar texture of fish and seafood, nostalgic.

 

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

 

After that night, it wasn't a surprise that the brightly-colored boy appeared more and more frequently. It just became... Normal. And I built my schedule around it, adding time for this and time for that, inviting him to training or following him for his own. Introducing him to Hekima-Sensei was interesting, as the boy all but fell over himself, gushing about how cool and bad-ass she was and could he _really_ train with us?

“He's a good Pup,” my Tutor informed me later, fondly, as we watched the boy struggle his way up a tree, scuffed and scraped from being thrown off repeatedly. “His Chakra reserves are bigger than yours are, at the moment, and three times as unwieldy, but he's still a good Pup.” I agreed, and returned to Reed Walking as the Nurse Shark multi-tasked, easily keeping an eye on _both_ of us and making sure we neither grew discouraged or too proud of whatever accomplishments or failures we managed.

The Moray brought my Friend up every few Meetings, carefully prodding my thoughts and reactions and feelings on the matter, but otherwise didn't mention him. No one really did. But, then again, nothing had really changed. I just kept moving forward, only now, I had a brightly-colored fish swimming alongside me as I went.

It was... Nice, not being alone anymore.

 

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

 

Koufukude hissed as I gently wiped it down.

“Yes, yes, I know, you fussy thing,” I muttered as I polished the blade. “It's not like I'm _trying_ to stay away, you know. I'm on my best behavior, seeing the Moray when I'm supposed to and not eating the Civilians. I haven't even bitten anyone yet!” The shark-head clicked its teeth at me mockingly; I rolled my eyes. “No, I haven't eaten anyone interesting. I got to eat some random captive the other day when I got overwhelmed, but otherwise no one else.” It crooned at me, twisting around to bite it's own hilt, staring at me with one black eye. I sighed mournfully.

“No,” I told it wistfully. “I'm not allowed to take you out to go train. I've had to go back to _training swords_ , Koufukude! Takeo-Sensei has been _very_ vicious about it.” I scowled faintly as my sword whined and wiggled in my grip. “I'm sorry, but you know what it's like.” Finally, it sighed and went limp, falling fully into a sulk while I rolled my eyes.

“Come on,” I sighed, getting up and ignoring ANBU Gecko as they watched me from the only doorway. “I brought that polishing stone you really like, the expensive one that has charcoal and quartz pieces compressed into it~!” I goaded; instantly, my sword perked up, and began straining towards the bag I'd set to the side when I entered. Chuckling, I obediently sat and pulled out the faintly sparkling, black studded stone, and got to work.

 

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

 

My feet were dragging as I shuffled towards my apartment door, head aching and chest feeling hollow after seeing the damn Moray.

“ _Do you still love your brother even after his leaving lead to your mothers death?”_

Yes.

“ _Will you still be able to kill him, as you say you will, despite that love? Or will you hesitate?”_

I'll still kill him. I can mourn once he's dead.

“ _What would your mother think of that?”_

“Fuck you, damn Eel,” I muttered as I opened my door, only to pause, staring. The Discus was waiting, which, in itself, wasn't unusual, but...

The lights were all off, there was no smell of ramen in the air, no bright grin and curious expression or obnoxious laughter. He was laying on my futon, facing the wall, but he wasn't sprawled like he was when he came over to nap. He was taut, like a stretch of wire, curled on his side and dead-silent.

...Seems like I'm not the only one who had a bad day.

“Scoot over, Discus,” I grumbled as I locked the door and made my way over, dropping my yakuta on the floor so I was just in trousers and a tank-top. Uzumaki complied silently, sliding over so I could take half of my futon. Huffing lowly, I dropped onto it, and curled so that my back was almost against his own, letting out a low, deep breath as I did so and closing my eyes in the near-dark. My head was aching from the dug up emotions and too many memories.

“...Do you think I'm a Demon?”

It was a whisper, quiet and uncertain and painfully, _painfully_ anguished, breaking through the darkness around us and I took a slow deep breath in as I considered it. This wasn't something that could be brushed off with a quick answer. That would feel like patronizing, or condescending. Discus was asking out of genuine, painful fear, and I would take that into consideration.

So, I answered him with truth, and shared pain.

“...Back in Kiri,” I told him quietly. “The Hoshigaki Clan are seen as inhuman. We are always known as the Monsters of the Hidden Mist, for our looks and minds and actions. My brother, Kisame, is an S-Ranked Nuke-Nin with a Flee On Sight order,” I told him quietly. “He is called the Tailless Biju, so monstrously strong he's no longer even considered human. My Chakra is almost as big as yours is, and will grow faster and stronger than yours ever will. I am considered inhuman, monstrous, even demonic by almost everyone around us, and that's not even taking my need for fresh meat into consideration.” Slowly, I breathed out and closed my eyes.

“If, taking all that into consideration, _you_ don't see me as a monster or demon or _creature_ ,” I told him quietly, “then look at yourself and know that you aren't one either. And, if you can't, if one day you look in the mirror and think 'Monster' before anything else, know that _I'll_ still see you as the goofy little Discus who swims beside sharks. And we'll be Monsters together.” A sound escaped him, low and punched-out and half of a laugh and sob combined, but I didn't open my eyes.

The futon shifted, and his back pressed against mine.

“...Yeah,” he whispered hoarsely. “Monsters together. Forever, right, Sameha?” He asked; I hummed.

“Forever, Naruto,” I replied quietly; we fell silent after that, and I didn't mention the way his back shivered and jerked behind me, or the hitched breaths that were mostly muffled by hand or pillow. I kept my eyes closed, and, soon enough, he fell into the sleep of the emotionally drained, and I sighed.

“...Silly little thing,” I murmured, before letting myself fall after him.

If, from then on, I found Naruto curled up in my futon more often then not, or opened a cabinet to find a stash of 'Emergency Feel Better Ramen', or found his Academy homework hidden in my drawers only to be woken at ass-o'clock in the morning when he came to get it for class, well.

I didn't mention it, and neither did he, and, to be honest?

My apartment felt a little less like an empty cave.

 

**/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\**

 

“Focus, Discus!” I snapped as I threw a rock at Naruto; he yelped as it hit him in the head and he promptly fell off the tree.

“Sameha, you bastard!” he shouted, clutching the lump on his head, and I snorted as I nimbly hopped over a Water Whip from Hekima-Sensei.

“You've got to learn to multitask, little fish!” I shouted back, falling into a handstand, using my fingertips to balance on a few particularly thin reeds and Hekima-Sensei took a sip of tea.

“The Pup is correct, little fish,” the Nurse Shark informed him calmly. “You are concentrating too hard on your feet. You have been able to climb the tree for the last two days. Your body knows, now, how to do it. If you focus too much, you will start to second-guess yourself. _Trust_ you body, Discus. It knows what it's doing.”

“Yeah, yeah, fine,” he muttered, sulking as he got off the ground.

“You're doing very well,” Hekima-Sensei informed him calmly, making him light up, smiling almost-shyly at the Nurse Shark. “Soon, you will start to learn Water Walking, and then we can start teaching you to use your Chakra, instead of just training it.”

“Awesome, dattebayo!” he hooted loudly, beaming, and then throwing himself at the tree with a determined look. “I'm gonna be Hokage in no time with your help, Hekima-Sensei!” I couldn't help but smirk as he launched himself up the tree.

“Hey, Discus!” I called as I flipped over another Water Whip and kicked a thrown rock, ducking under the Whip as it snapped around again. “Bet I can finish my Reed Walking practice before you can figure out how to Tree Walk on your hands!” A fire lit in his blue eyes, and he shook his fist at me with a fierce grin.

“You're on, dattebayo!” He shouted. “Loser has to buy dinner!” I barked out a short laugh, flipping upright to smirk at him.

“Prepare to buy me a side of beef, then, Discus!” I taunted; he laughed.

“Fifteen bowls of ramen, here I come!” He declared, making me wince a little.

I hadn't taken his love for ramen into account...

Determined to win, I threw myself into practice even as Naruto did the same.

(I would lose, unfortunately, because Ramen was the highest form of Motivator for Naruto, and he could do _anything_ if Ramen was on the line, but I would also improve in leaps and bounds with the competition. Hekima-Sensei was impressed.)

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I gave the Hoshigaki Shark-Breed Specifics, guys. I read Black Kat's Tumblr Drabble about how Hoshigaki Females are usually large & stronger than males, and I really liked that idea, but then I was like "But WHICH Shark breed???" so! Each Hoshigaki grows specific to whichever Breed they are closest to. While Kisame, in the anime and manga, summons Great Whites, I thought it was more fitting if her summoned Bull Sharks, or at least grew in similar ways to them, while Sameha grows more specific to Great Whites (Which we've seen her interact with only with our lovely Shark King). So, what do you think???

**Author's Note:**

> NAMES:  
> Sameko - Shark Child (The Mother)  
> Daisame - Great Shark (The Deceased Father)  
> Kisame - Demon Shark (The Brother)  
> Sameha - Shark Teeth (The Main Character)  
> Samehada - Shark Skin (Kisame's Eventual Blade)  
> Koufukude no Ken - The Famished Sword (Sameha's Blade)  
> Hekima - Wisdom (The Tutor, Nurse Shark)  
> Makoto - Sincerity (The Scout, Blacktip Shark)  
> Michi - Pathway (The Reef Builder, Great Hammerhead Shark)  
> Isamu - Courageous, Warrior (The Samarai, Tiger Shark  
> Shinju - Pearl (The Fierce Female, Copper Shark)  
> Tatsu - Dragon (The Old Lady, Frilled Shark)  
> Sukouru - Squall (The Storm King, Great White Shark)  
> Takeo - Fierce Warrior (The Warrior Guard, Bull Shark)
> 
> A Squall is a sudden, violent gust of wind or a localized storm, especially one bringing rain, snow, or sleet.


End file.
